When you have a commercial property that has become vacant, it’s in your best interest to have it occupied as soon as possible so that income can be generated from it. It’s important to have an understanding of what the priorities are for potential occupants and invest in building improvements that cater to those priorities.
It may be that you will need to offer some on-site amenities to facilitate greater client engagement. Some of the recommendations below have proven to be very successful in the past at quickly occupying commercial properties, and one or more of these will likely be successful for you as well. The more appealing you can make your commercial property, the more likely it is to become occupied by quality tenants.
Make use of your anchor tenant
If you have a commercial property that can accommodate multiple tenants, and you already have an anchor tenant, you should leverage that anchor tenant in order to attract other occupants. Quite often, it’s the anchor tenant that appeals to other potential occupants and what draws them to your commercial real estate over someone else’s.
Since anchor tenants have the capability of appealing to large numbers of consumers and drawing them into the establishment, any other occupants of the commercial property would benefit from those large numbers of customers. Make sure to effectively promote the fact that you have a national company on the premises since that can be a bigger draw than anything else.
Offer shared amenities
If you have vacant rooms or other areas within your building, these could be converted into training rooms or shared conference rooms that multiple tenants can make use of. Even basements can be converted into exercise facilities that can be shared among tenants who have employees motivated by fitness. You might also be able to convert a basement area into a childcare center for employee parents who work on the premises.
Some tenants may desire to have on-site refreshment options, so it may be worth your while to provide discounts on rent to food or coffee vendors who can satisfy the refreshment aspect of your tenants’ desires.
There are a ton of ways you can make use of unoccupied commercial spaces or unused sections of your building in order to increase the value to potential tenants.
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Spruce up the exterior and parking lot
When attracting tenants, it is important to present the best possible appearance to them, and the first thing they’ll see when evaluating your property is its exterior. You may want to engage the services of a landscaper to keep the property trim and appealing or to plant some shrubbery or flowers.
In addition, making sure your parking lot and curb appeal are in tip-top shape is important as well. Parking lots that are ugly, difficult to maneuver around, or feature potholes often turn people away. Attractive and functional parking lots can do wonders for commercial buildings.
As for the interior, you can spruce it up by including some indoor plants, and you may also want to bring in some artwork that will add a touch of class to your building.
You won’t need to invest a ton of money to make improvements to the exterior and interior of your building, but they can go a long way toward making a solid aesthetic impression on potential tenants. It is very important to generate a positive image for your premises, so any small things you can do to improve its aesthetic can be very beneficial.
Promote your cost-savings initiatives
Potential tenants may be powerfully influenced by some of the initiatives you’ve undertaken to generate cost savings for them. As an example, any energy-efficient improvements you’ve recently installed can be appealing. If you have implemented fiber-optic Internet, or if you can offer on-site parking, these are perks that might be enough to sway an indecisive tenant.
Any service that you can offer on-site could allow your tenants to maximize their productivity, which can result in a better bottom line for them. Some commercial properties are able to offer healthy dining options for tenants. This could be another major appeal that might cause them to choose your property over someone else’s.
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Know your market
If the real estate market in your geographic area happens to be experiencing downtime, it will be to your advantage to conduct some market research, so that you can have the best information available to help get your building occupied. Priorities for prospective tenants will always vary a great deal between states, cities, and even neighborhoods.
For instance, if you are in an area focusing on technology, it might be beneficial for you to provide fiber-optic internet to tenants. If the market in your area is saturated with a number of parents who have young children, the biggest appeal to them might be having childcare facilities on the premises.
When you know what appeals the most to prospective tenants, you’ll be able to emphasize those points at your own facility better and increase your chances of finding a suitable occupant.
Provide rewards for referrals
One of your best marketing techniques may be to have your satisfied tenants appeal to other interested occupants. If you have several tenants who are extremely happy with your facilities and your service, they are probably willing to share their experience with others and help you secure tenants.
It could be to your benefit to establish a reward program for these kinds of referrals, as long as you can offer rewards that really appeal to your existing tenants. You may want to give them a discount on their rent or offer significant gift cards as a sign of your gratitude for their involvement. Be sure to advertise your loyalty program among existing tenants, because this will help to expand the program and get more people involved.
Increase your security measures
For many potential tenants, security is a high priority for occupancy. This is especially true of companies that have employees working odd hours throughout the day and night. Even if you live in a very safe neighborhood that doesn’t require security guards, it can improve the peace of mind for your tenants by adding security cameras and improving your lighting.
If there are any existing security risks around your premises, these should be addressed as soon as possible, so potential tenants feel more secure. If any of your existing tenants have expressed concerns about security, these should also be taken seriously, and steps should be taken to correct any deficiencies.
Provide a comfortable and healthy space
Of course, making sure that your building is a comfortable environment for people to thrive in is of the utmost importance. This includes things like making sure your HVAC system is in working order, keeping the water running, fixing things that are broken, and keeping the air quality fresh and conducive to tenant health.
If you require services related to any of these things, Design Mechanical has got your back. We have been a trusted mechanical service provider to commercial buildings in the Kansas City area for many years. We can make sure that important appliances like your HVAC system are running smoothly and efficiently, purify your indoor air, and even install building automation systems (BASs) to maximize effectiveness for a commercial property management company.
Keep your commercial building in top shape with help from Design Mechanical!