When you have made the decision to lease or buy a commercial property, you need to look at the entire commercial property, the specific portion of the property you need, and concerns about the property.

Building Attributes 
When you begin to look at properties, especially if this is your first endeavor, you won't be sure of what to look for. You may have an idea of the geographic area, size of the space and budget but after that you may not know what to expect. Here are some ideas of issues to think about in determining your "must have" list, your "would be nice" list, and your "not needed" list:

• Building amenities such as a sundries shop, dry cleaner, bank or post office within the building. These companies typically are located on the first floor of a high-rise, multi-tenant property. They are there for the pure luxury of the tenants of the building. Are these amenities important to your company and staff? 
• Is parking free or paid? Are private allocated spots available (i.e. for the executives)?
• Is the US Mail delivered at the specific suite or is there a central mail room in the building where you'd to retrieve the mail? Is there a place for outgoing mail?  Are express mail courier boxes available on site? 
• Common use areas such as a cafeteria, break room and designated smoking area. These common areas are shared with all tenants of the building.
• Does the property have day porters to take care of the property during the day and keep the building running well? They keep bathrooms cleaned and stocked throughout the day as well as keeping the lobbies clean and clear of debris. This is important if you will have many visitors to your company. A clean, well maintained building reflects on you the tenant in your client's eyes. 

Building Services
The building services keep the building running well, and the effectiveness of them can be important. Again, the identity of your business, from your client's point of view, begins as they turn into the parking lot. You may not own the building, but the property is an extension of your company's image.

• Landscaping and parking lot conditions. Is the exterior of the building well maintained and neatly landscaped? Does the building looking inviting to enter? Does the parking lot have a smooth surface and plenty of parking spaces? 
• Building access for your clients is essential. What hours does the building operate? If you will be seeing clients after hours how do they gain access to your office? Are the building hours conducive to your company's operating hours? Can your employees gain access to the building on weekends?
• Security is a critical concern for all parties. We will look at the specific building security and later discuss suite security. Does the building have keys, card strips or another type of entry system after hours? Is the property monitored electronically? Are there security guards posted after hours? Are the parking lots well lit? There is the security of the building, security of your property and the security of your staff. All areas need to be addressed.
• Are restrooms are private, located within the specific suite, or public and shared by all tenants? Who is responsible for keeping cleaning supplies stocked? Also, are the public restrooms locked or open to all people entering the premises? 

Building Location 
As the old saying goes, location, location, location! Choosing your property will be driven by your site needs. 

• Location is vital for visibility for some clients and the type of work they perform. It also tends to come with a higher price tag. This is a critical factor when considering your budget. Does the zip code matter to the practices of your company?
• What type of property is your business best suited for in the geographic region you've identified? Does the property need to be on a private street, discreet and out of the way? Perhaps your rent is less expensive and walk-in traffic is not part of your business.  Is your business better suited for a location on a street with occasional walk-in business? Perhaps name recognition within the community is important and being a fixture in town reaps its own rewards. Finally, do you need a high-traffic area? Retail operations thrive best in this type of location. 

Building Type 
Based on the business you are running, you need to determine what type of commercial property is best suited to your needs. Office buildings, private entrance and retail are just a few of the types we will briefly review.

• Multi-tenant high rise space is common for fulfilling office space needs. It is typically located in a large, easily identified building that is maintained by the management company. It usually offers amenities that are pleasing to the tenants without them having to provide them themselves. High-rise space often has shared spaces that appeal to the tenants such as a grand lobby, cafeteria and public restrooms.
• Single-level private entrance properties are often used for offices and medical facilities. They provide private entrances which allow you to control hours of operation. The site typically is self-contained with a reception area, lunch room, restroom and vending machines are all within the suite and all within the sole responsibility of the occupant.
• Retail properties are usually located in high-traffic areas and may be already built out. For example a restaurant leaves its space and a new restaurant comes in and opens for business. The building is already suited for that type of business and the cost of making huge changes is eliminated. These factors are all significant when budgeting and negotiating a lease.

As you can see there are many factors that go into finding the right property for your company. We've discussed the building and what we need to think about its potential in meeting our needs. However, now we need to narrow our search further to the actual suite. 

Space Requirements 
When considering the suite itself, pull out your check list and determine if the space is a good fit for your company.  It's true that you can make changes to a property, but it all comes at a cost. Finding a fundamentally good fit is the least expensive and least time intensive way to proceed.

• Size of space is determined in square footage, and you pay for every foot. It is critical that you determine the appropriate amount of square footage for your needs, including potential expansion. Is the space broken up into offices already and are the sizes of the room appropriate for your needs? Do you have a lavish lobby but a tiny conference room? Will your furniture fit within the space? Is there room for any storage? Review the layout and space needs with a critical eye.
• Technology requirements may include suite wiring as well as a separate room to house servers and other equipment.
• The kinds of rooms in the space are defined by your business, and needs to be well thought-out before you even enter a suite for review. Do you need a conference room? A room for files and storage? Is the space suited for a bull pen area for a sales force? You know your business better than anyone else, so do your homework.
• A kitchen or break room within the suite may be of benefit if there are no common use facilities within the building. This kind of room is a benefit to employees and can be a time-saver for an employer.  

Amenities to the suite
Once you have analyzed the physical space, it's time to look at what amenities are included.

• Furniture can be an expensive addition to a suite, but some suites come already furnished. If not, there are many ways to furnish a suite to make it look presentable at reasonable prices. The market for slightly used office furniture is huge.
• Security for the suite is often at the expense of the tenant. This is something that should be explored prior to signing a lease. If a higher-end security package is needed based on your industry you may want to try negotiating it into the lease package. This could be a savings on your insurance policy.
• Conference rooms can take a fair amount of square footage, so you need to be clear on how often they'll be used and what size you need. If your company will only need a conference room occasionally, you may check with the landlord to see if a public conference room is available within the building. Also, you might inquire among other tenants whether you can borrow or rent their conference room occasionally. 
• Be clear on service requests-things you need handled in your suite by the landlord. You want to see what items are your responsibilities and what is theirs. For example, who changes light bulbs? Also most leases require that any work done on the suite such as keying locks or painting must be done by the landlord's licensed contractors and at their payment rate.
• High speed internet accessibility seems like a given in most commercial spaces, but remember it is typically managed by the phone or cable company. Even in the most populated areas there can be a pocket on non-connectedness. Confirm with the landlord what is available to this specific site and which company provides the service. If this property is a serious contender than you may want to contact the high-speed service for questions and pricing. 

Actual usable space 
There are two terms in leases to become familiar with for negotiations. Usable square feet is the space within you specific suite. Rentable square feet is the useable square feet plus a portion of the common area square feet. For example: If you had 10 tenants in a 11,000 square feet building and each tenant has 1000 usable square feet than there is 1,000 square feet unaccounted for, which makes up the common area. Based on your specific percentage of occupying square feet in the building, you get that portion of the common area added to make the rentable square feet.  

• Rentable vs. usable square footage must be analyzed. You need to identify the breakdown between usable and rentable square footage for the specific suite you are previewing.
• A phone and/or electrical room can be located in the building, in which case it is shared common area in your square footage calculation. If it is located in the suite you need to locate where and determine if it obstructs the use of any of the rooms. The circuit breaker and electrical lines may be attached along with phone systems to a wall within the suite and not necessarily in a discreet location. If this is likely to become an eye sore, you might try negotiating with the landlord to build cabinet or similar to camouflage the utilities. 

Rights of the tenant 
Many of the items we will discuss here are standard parts of the lease agreement and may or may not be subject to negotiation. These items are things to consider based on the type of business you conduct.

• When dealing with disputes between tenant and landlord, arbitration is usually used (as opposed to law suits). Be aware that most leases include this as a mandatory term.
• Construction build-outs and delays are common. As with any other contract work, delays may occur and the suite may not be ready when you need it. You can envision the upset to your business this would create. Imagine you are in another office space and your new place is not complete. What recourse do you have? Make sure the terms include a well-defined Plan B in the event of an issue like this.  

Overall building considerations 
In general there are some items that you may choose to consider that fall under the topic of building concerns.

• Types of businesses operating within the building may be of interest. Perhaps a doctor's office is in the building and you have a strong flow of sick patients walking the halls and lobbies of your building. Is there a beauty salon that has the smell of chemicals from hair solutions and acrylic nails wafting out into the lobby? Is your competitor in the building? All items to consider.
• Transfer of ownership of the building could be a non-event or could give you cause for concern. Does the lease make provisions that state the maintenance of the building will continue to be maintained to the same standard? Are the leases transferable with no changes?
• Class A, B or C property determines the cost per square foot. Class A property is the highest and you will find many fine luxuries in the lobby and other common areas. You should expect to see marble and wood materials in the lobby, granite in the restrooms and manicured landscaping. Class B is fine also but perhaps not the prize location and some of the materials may not be as high-end. Class C is space that is the least expensive with bare basic materials and the location is not necessarily sought after.
• Maintenance and long-term upkeep of the property is important as well. You may choose to see other properties that are managed by the same company to see their track record, or perhaps ask some of the other tenants. You want to know if they do regular updating to the property, that the carpets are cleaned and that the building shows well. After all this is a reflection on your business.
• Traffic can be an issue if you are in a high access area. Are the roads adequate to handle the traffic flow? Also, check with the city about any expansion or building that is planned in the immediate area over the next few years. If you are a retail store relying on foot traffic, six months of construction nearby could have dramatic effects on your bottom line.

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