Commercial Real Estate Tenant Advisory Services: What Good Looks Like

What tenant advisory includes, item by item

• Lease strategy. Whether to stay or move, how much space to take, how long to commit for, and which route fits: a direct lease, a sublease or a furnished floor.
• The space search. A written requirement, a survey of direct, sublease and unmarketed space, a shortlist, tours, and test fits on the finalists.
• The negotiation. Proposals from the landlords, a letter of intent that fixes the economics, and the business terms carried into the lease.

At Nomad the same firm can then run the buildout and the office afterward, through its construction management and facilities management teams.

What advisory leaves to your attorney

An advisor negotiates the business terms: what you pay, for how long, the free months, the allowance, the security and the options. The lease document is a legal instrument, and your real estate attorney owns it: default and remedies, indemnity, the wording of the guarantee, assignment mechanics and restoration. The two should talk throughout, since a point agreed in the letter of intent can still be undone by how the lease defines it.

Four pieces of evidence to check before calling any advisor

• Published rents. Does the firm print asking rents, or does every number need a phone call? Why we publish our rents explains our position.
• A written requirement. A good advisor writes your headcount, date and budget down before booking a tour.
• Proposals on effective rent. Ask to see an anonymized comparison from an earlier search. Free rent, the allowance and escalations should all be priced in.
• Conflicts disclosed. Ask whether the firm leases buildings for owners. Nomad does: it offers agency leasing and owner representation, and on your search it works for you.

Where to read the current market before you hire anyone

An advisor should be able to tell you where leverage sits this quarter, and you should be able to check it. The market report carries the availability and leasing figures we publish, and it is updated, which a number quoted here would not be. The block on this page is the whole of what we list, with the citywide median asking rent.

How an advisory engagement with Nomad starts

Send headcount, timing and budget through the start page. A broker reaches out within the hour during business hours, and a first shortlist can be ready within 24 hours. In most transactions the landlord pays the broker fee. When the broker calls, ask what an advisory engagement would have you sign and whether any cost could ever reach you.