5 Tips to Consider When Renting in a Multi-Tenant Office

Is this a hotel?

Imagine walking into a warmly lit building, with the sound of a barista in the background. Amidst the plants, there are spacious seating areas, and a friendly gentleman greets you, asking if you need a cover for your wet umbrella.

Is this a hotel?

No, welcome to the multi-tenant office building!

Such a welcome often represents a significant improvement in hospitality compared to the smaller reception area in a single-tenant office. It feels like a luxury to walk around and see everything that is offered here—luxurious meeting rooms, spacious restaurants, and so on.

However, there are a few hidden pitfalls to consider so you can make a well-informed decision when moving to a (new) multi-tenant office.

1. Free space doesn’t exist

The reality is that this abundance of space is far from free. These spaces are often proportionally charged to the tenants. You are essentially paying for them. The cost can vary significantly depending on the building. You might encounter a surcharge ranging from 20% to as much as 45% over your leased office floor space. For example, if you lease and pay for 1,450 m² of rentable floor area (RFA), this means that in one building, you might have 1,000 m² available, while in another, you might have 1,250 m² to use.

Therefore, be realistic and when entering into a new lease, consider not only the amount of RFA you are paying for but also the actual usable space that you have at your disposal to design and use.

2. Utilize Common Areas

It’s not necessarily a bad thing that these common spaces are proportionally distributed among tenants. The idea is that you also use these common areas. But you have to actually use them. Is there a cinema room offered that you don’t use? Unfortunately, you still have to pay your share for it even if it adds no value for you. On the other hand, are there meeting rooms that you do use? Perfect! Then there’s no need to create those spaces within your own office area.

When designing the layout of your “own” office space, take into account the common facilities available in the building. The more you can share, the more efficiently you can manage your office space and costs. If you don’t, you’re essentially paying double.

3. Schedule Asynchronously

How convenient it is to expand your office on Tuesdays and Thursdays by using additional meeting rooms in the building’s conference centre. However, the peak days for your organisation are likely the same as the peak days for other tenants. If there aren’t enough meeting rooms available, you risk missing out because all the rooms are already booked during these popular times.

If your company follows the trend of peak days on Tuesdays and Thursdays, you’ll need to incorporate more meeting rooms within your own office space to meet your needs. However, if your weekly schedule doesn’t align with the trend, you’re in luck, as you can make full use of the facilities on Wednesdays and Fridays without competition.

4. Find the Common Ground in Functionality

For you, it may be essential that a meeting room is darkened for privacy, has a round table, or that the internet connection is suitable for broadcasting. For example, one of our clients couldn’t use the large common area for their town hall meeting because the network wasn’t secure. This might not be an issue for others.

Check with the landlord to ensure that the specifications of the common areas meet your requirements. If not, discuss with the landlord beforehand if an upgrade can be made so that other tenants can also benefit. Once you have moved in, the willingness to compromise is usually low.

5. Share Wisely, Cherish your identity

The more space you share, the less space there is to shape your organisation’s identity. With hybrid working becoming more common, the office is visited less frequently. This makes it more important for employees to see, feel, and experience the organisation they work for during their office visits. A strong design of your “own” office contributes significantly to this—beyond just hanging a painting or sticking up a logo.

The identity of a company goes beyond office decor. Colleagues come to the office for connection and camaraderie and don’t want to feel lost among many other tenants. For this reason, some choose to create their own lunch area to strengthen team bonding. The value of this specific lunch area is not measured in square meters but in enhancing mutual connections and reinforcing the company’s identity.

Your Checklist for Making a Smart Choice for a Multi-Tenant Office

• Calculate Your Usable Space. Determine how much space you have to personally design and how much space you are paying for.
• Optimize Financial Attractiveness. Keep it financially attractive by reducing your own space. The higher the common area surcharge in a building, the more spaces you should be able to share.
• Assess Availability and Setup of Shared Spaces. Beforehand, check the availability and setup of the spaces you intend to use. If you foresee any issues, discuss them with the landlord in advance.
• Support Your Organization’s Identity. Ensure your office design supports your organization’s identity. A well-thought-out workplace concept and interior design will help employees feel at home with the organization.

More information?

If you are considering moving to a multi-tenant office, we’d love to sit down with you over a cup of your own coffee or that of the trendy barista in the shared lobby. We can discuss the commercial intricacies of a multi-tenant office, as you might have different considerations. The choice is ultimately yours, but for us, the most important thing is that you make smart decisions, and we’re here to help you with that. Read more about our process here.