by Aron Susman
The latter six months of 2012 will provide greater opportunities for commercial real estate investors and property owners to profit from increasing demand and rising rents. However, for businesses seeking office space for rent in top metropolitan markets like New York and Dallas, it may be wise to begin considering options now, before vacancies become too tight.
by Aron Susman
For businesses considering retail space for rent in top metropolitan areas such as New York, Dallas, Austin or Houston, it has never been unusual to base this decision off of intangible factors, such as instinct or the general "feel" towards the property.
by Aron Susman
Office leasing in New York City climbed in February from the previous month, though the square feet of commercial real estate leased during the first two months of 2012 was down on a year-over-year basis, according to a recent report.
by Justin Lee
This week we're featuring a really unique space in the Houston Montrose area, where RedHouse Associates makes it home. Literally a red house, this Houston city landmark has been completely renovated on the inside and serves as the base to Houston's premier startup Incubator - which provides strategic advice and services to assist young companies in developing business plans, devising product strategies, growing sales organizations, and preparing senior management teams for raising capital and strategic exits.
by Aron Susman
Expansion is a welcome challenge for most businesses, and with it comes a variety of decisions. One of the most important may regard the business' physical location, and whether or not a company wants to buy or lease its new home.
by Aron Susman
A provider of e-commerce technology and solutions has announced its relocation to the Dallas suburb of Texas in a move that could introduce as many as 650 new jobs to the area, according to a press release.
by Aron Susman
In relocating from Madison Avenue to Liberty Plaza, one asset management technology firm will expand the size of its New York City office space while establishing a new home for the next 16 years, according to a report.
by Aron Susman
Once known as one of the nation's most prominent music gatherings, the annual South by Southwest festival has now become one of the world's premier digital media events. Accordingly, its effect on the Austin commercial real estate sector has been significant, according to reports.
by Aron Susman
Austin has become a haven for young workers and entrepreneurs enamored with the prospect of living an urban lifestyle in the heart of a burgeoning city. As a result, local real estate continues to climb in value, putting landlords who own commercial real estate in Austin in a position to benefit.
by Aron Susman
A data services firm is relocating its headquarters from Las Vegas to Dallas, according to reports, underscoring the continued strength of the Dallas office space market.
by Aron Susman
For the first time since 2010, U.S. banks committed more in lending to commercial real estate projects than they did in the previous quarter, according to a national report. With improved access to financing, more businesses may have the financial backing needed to consider securing office space for rent in top metros such as Dallas, Houston or New York City.
by Aron Susman
Real estate experts have long tied the industry's fortunes to the strength of the nation's job market, and now many say the right type of growth is occurring to positively effect several corners of the market - including commercial real estate.
by Aron Susman
A recent report notes that new contracts for the construction of commercial real estate in Dallas dropped last month from a year earlier, though the declines may have more to do with the flurry of local construction activity reported one year earlier.
by Justin Lee
This week we are featuring the offices of a young Houston startup company, SupportChoice, Inc. Located on North Post Oak Rd. near Uptown Park, SupportChoice Founder and CEO Taylor Pipkin and his staff provide on-demand computer support via remote desktop control technology. Offering a host of services, SupportChoice is a great resource for those in need of technical support with the click of a button.
by Jonathan Wasserstrum
by Aron Susman
After reading a recent article on the dark side of co-working, we thought we would chime in. It comes as no surprise that co-working is starting to see some backlash among small businesses and contractors. As a relatively new solution to traditional office space in the U.S., co-working has taken off like a wildfire. If you are on either the west coast or east coast and involved in commercial real estate or you are looking for real estate – you certainly have seen all the cool, open, innovative co-working solutions. It is starting to pick up everywhere else, but it seems the coasts have taken the lead.
by Justin Lee
When visiting with small business owners about how their company’s office space plays a role in the business growth and culture, there’s typically a common theme that rears it’s ugly head: too many mistakes are made in the leasing process. Owners and decision makers often make several key mistakes that can end up costing companies significantly down the line and can even cripple their growth rate. Because office rent is the second highest expense the vast majority of companies incur, doing things the wrong way leading up to signing on the dotted line can be devastating and can make any business owner go crazy!
by Justin Lee
by Justin Lee
There have been a few stories that have come out recently saying that Starbucks will begin selling beer and wine at locations in several major US markets by the end of 2012. Starbucks began testing the concept in some of it's Seattle home based locations back in late 2011, and is planning on implementing the sale of beer and wine in cities like Atlanta, Chicago, and a few cities in Southern California soon. Word has it that they will start testing the concept in 4-6 locations in each of those markets and go from there. Seems as if Starbucks is attempting to become more of a true cafe, serving coffee, tea, beer, wine, to go along with pastries and Panini's. There are no immediate plans to expand the concept into any of the major Texas cities, but that could certainly change after seeing a positive response in some of the test markets.
by Aron Susman
Noble Energy just signed a 497,000 square foot lease in the former Hewlett Packard building in northwest Houston. That is almost 11.5 acres and they will occupy all 10 floors with plans to expand in the future.
by Aron Susman
by Jonathan Wasserstrum
The always awesome Mark Suster posted on New Years his new year's resolution to spend more time on "the right side of the Haimish line" which is a term that was coined by David Brooks here. I highly recommend reading both Suster and Brooks in their entirety as this notion of the hamish line it is a great way to have a more fulfilling year. I agree whole heartedly in getting out in the mix. It's why I try to strike up conversations with those around me where ever I am. There is always something new and interesting to learn from others.
by Aron Susman
For our first 2012 installment of office space of the week, we are featuring our friends over at Infinity Power Partners, an energy-consulting firm for large consumers of electricity or natural gas. Located in Three Post Oak Central in the Galleria area, Infinity's execs have matched a Galleria corporate & budding energy business culture with their love of big game hunting and flat screen TV's. When it comes to office space in Houston in the Galleria area, Infinity Power Partners has just about the best location possible with it's close proximity to 610 and all the Galleria retail that's within walking distance. Oh, and the views aren't too shabby either....
by Aron Susman
After reading this article on leasing trends in commercial real estate, we began to think about what the metrics meant for tenants. Loopnet put together a very good info-graphic (below) on lease versus buy trends and I thought a few statistics were interesting from a prospective tenants viewpoint as they lease new or renew space for their business -
by Justin Lee
It's always interesting to compare commercial real estate leasing trends from market to market. Different cities and regions produce unique leasing landscapes and a tenant leasing office space in Houston Texas may value certain amenities differently than a tenant leasing space somewhere on the East Coast. According to a recent article in Globe Street, CBRE sent an anonymous survey to decision makers of more than 100 large tenants across the state of New Jersey ranking the most important "must-have" amenities in an office building.
by Justin Lee
We hear it all the time. Prospective tenants are sometimes wary about using a tenant broker because they think A) there is a fee involved, B) the broker may not be a market expert and know the best options available, and C) landlords charge higher rent for tenant who use a tenant broker to sign a lease. TheSquareFoot has certainly addressed A and B ad nauseam, and we need to flush out C just so everyone is clear on how the system works.
by Jonathan Wasserstrum
One of our Houston retail brokers, Lance Gillam of UCR moodyrambin PAGE, was quoted in GlobeSt yesterday talking about current trends in Houston retail space leasing. It is interesting to see the dichotomy between class A retail space--where there can often be a waiting list--and class B and C space where vacancies abound.
by Aron Susman
Recently we took a break from our efforts of bringing efficiency and transparency to Houston small businesses and entrepreneurs who were looking for space for their business. We ate at Sushi Pop located across from Memorial City Mall on I-10 and Bunker Hill because we had heard good things, and knew it was owned by the same group as Azuma and Uptown sushi. The sushi was delicious but we were surprised by the fantastic build-out and retail space. The inside was meticulously decorated and felt open and inviting. It is usually difficult to find a reasonably priced sushi retail establishments in Houston, which has awesome food and also great restaurant space, but Sushi Pop has our seal of approval!
by Justin Lee
This week TheSquareFoot is featuring the office of Green Business Bureau, which aims to aid companies and organizations to become environmentally friendly or "Go Green". Green Business Bureau believes that not only can green business practices and processes help protect the environment, they may also help a company improve its bottom line. We thought this was an awesome concept and wanted to check out the hub of this exciting Houston-based venture first hand. Located on the second story of the building housing Brian O'Neill's Pub, this unique setup for a Rice Village office in Houston looked ideal for a company full of so many young faces.
by Justin Lee
It doesn't seem that long ago when I attended Startup Weekend Houston in February, and really caught a glimpse of what the startup scene was like here. TheSquareFoot was a brand new idea then, and I was excited to attend an event like this for the first time. I remember being nervous walking in because A) this would be the first event I attended of its kind, B) I didn't know ANYONE, C) I knew I would be pitching for the first time in front of a large audience, and D) I had no idea what kind of feedback I would get on our concept. Most people outside of the industry don't know much about commercial real estate leasing, and it's almost impossible to make it seem like a glamorous business.