Essential, But Quick, Checklist As You Consider Moving Commercial Spaces in Tampa

14 Jan 2015

Moving into Tampa commercial office space can be an exciting time for your business! Congrats on your upcoming move!

New office space gives a business owners and manager the feeling of taking the business to its next level of growth.

So, very quickly, as you begin to consider your upcoming move, what things do you need to consider as you talk to commercial realtors, search online for space and start visiting potential new office space?

Space

Is your business growing or downsizing? Do you anticipate new growth within the coming months or years?

How much space do you have now and how much will you think you need? Also, you’ll need to determine how many employees you expect to be housing and what office furniture and equipment you will need in order to accommodate them.

Location

Where you locate your business is super important!

Is your business in downtown St. Pete? Does your office need to be near the airport in Tampa, the busy corner of Kennedy and Dale Mabry? Maybe you need a larger warehouse facility in Brandon, Plant City or Lakeland.

Where do your clients or customers expect you to be (or need you to be). Or, in today’s virtual world, does it matter?

And how about the commute? How far is it from your home to your new office space? All of these need to be carefully thought through when deciding where to locate your business.

Parking

This is important – you’ll need to should figure our what both your employee and customer parking needs will be.

Does the space you are considering offer enough parking for your needs and the needs of surrounding businesses? Is the parking underground or on-street metered parking – or just an open parking lot? Is handicapped parking available if needed or required?

Tenants

Everyone does this, though not everyone admits to it. Can you check out the other tenants in the building or office complex you will be leasing in? Just walking the floors of the building or the surrounding neighborhood will give you a good idea.

Your commercial real estate agent should be able to advise you on the type of neighbors you’ll have (or may have in the future after your lease is signed).

Are current tenants happy with the landlord, facility manager or owner of the property? It’s a good question to ask.

Expansion, remodeling of the office space

If you are attracted to a particular office space but think you may be remodeling that space to suit your needs, then that’s something you’ll want to talk to the building owner and your commercial real estate firm about before signing any agreements.

Utilities

One exercise that is fruitful is to find out what the typical costs are for heating, electricity, and air conditioning in an office space similar to the one you are considering within the same building.

Can you ask either the landlord or other building occupants for copies of the last six month’s utility bills? Maybe – it doesn’t hurt to ask of course.

What about transferring service or starting new service. Sometime getting set up with utilities is not instantaneous and, if not, could slow your business down during your move.

Functionality

Functionality is an important consideration when considering office design. No, seriously! Noise reduction, clear pathways, clean design, access to equipment, etc. All these things and more need to be considered!

Your employees need to be able to hear clearly in order to effectively conduct phone conversations. Think about placing printers, copiers and other loud equipment in their own areas to minimize noise.

You also need to create nice passageways that allow employees ease of movement from one area of the office to another. These pathways should also provide efficient traffic patterns. Laying out your space in advance is helpful.

Don’t forget to group people together according to what they do or how they interact – for example, accounting needs to be with accounting, call center folks with call center folks.

Customer perspective

A customer’s first impression of your office space is critical. The same holds true for employees.

Certain businesses need to present a certain ‘look and feel.’ A Westshore marketing company can be a little fun. A Clearwater law firm needs to be a little more buttoned up.

Does your office need to warm and inviting…or designed to get people in and out? Heck, maybe no one ever visits your office space and it can look exactly how you want!

Assigning space

Whew! This always starts off easy and gets harder as you go along. Assigning space to your employees can be difficult.

Who gets the corner office or the office with the best view? Who is stuck by the bathrooms or elevator? Does someone get a larger office because they need it or because they’ve earned it?

Are you moving your office to a new location in Tampa, St. Petersburg or surrounding areas?

The info above is a lot to think about (and this was the quick overview)! The easy part of moving is actually just finding the right mover to help. Hint: It’s our team!

Let Office Movers of Florida help. With our on-site visit and free estimates, we can help you outline your next move – whether it’s soon or sometime in the future when your lease ends.

Call us at 813-304-2273.