Are you considering retail space for lease? Are you concerned about the costs? Are you having a hard time making a decision on retail space for rent? Hopefully, the information we have in this article will help you as you wrestle with this decision. We are the Fort Worth Design District, a business enclave consisting of three separate business parks in the Alliance Area of North Forth Worth. Call us at 817-439-3224 for more information about what we have to offer you in retail space for lease.
Now, though, let’s look at retail space for lease cost in 2021 and beyond.
Size plus location
Size plus location has been the determining factor regarding the cost of retail space rental for over one-hundred years. It is the standard by which most rental cost is determined. The cost per square foot can range from a dollar to five or six dollars per square foot, and that determination is usually based on the location of a particular property and how sought-after that property is in any particular city.
This is not rocket science. This is how things have been for a long, long time, and for the most part it is how it still is with commercial and industrial space for lease. Stated another way, a 500 square foot retail space for lease in, say, downtown Fort Worth may cost considerably more than a similar-sized space in a strip mall ten blocks from downtown.
Secondary costs
It is amazing to us, and we’ve been in the commercial real estate business for a good many years, how so many business owners fail to consider the secondary costs of renting commercial real estate. What will the utilities cost? What will WiFi cost? What will it cost to decorate and furnish the retail space? What will insurance cost for that area? These costs add up quickly, and they are quite capable of blowing apart an operating budget. A retail space which is advertised for $1500 per month may, in reality, when all the secondary costs are totaled, cost closer to $3000 per month
What does the future hold?
2020, the Year of the Pandemic, and 2021, have taught us some valuable lessons in commercial real estate. The commercial real estate market has had to adjust to the staggering loss of businesses, and the staggering loss of commercial and industrial real estate value. Far too many store fronts had “for sale” signs on them. Far too many “warehouse for rent” signs went up, and “office for rent” signs, and even more “shop for rent” signs. Something had to be done, and we are beginning to see some creative responses to the staggering economy.
A look at the Fort Worth Design District
Take our own business district, the Fort Worth Design District, for example. At one of our business parks, Box Office Warehouse Suites, we have commercial and industrial properties for rent made up entirely from refurbished shipping containers. Because the construction costs were low, we are able to rent those properties beginning at $875 per month, a very low cost for commercial and industrial property in Fort Worth, especially in a very popular area like the Alliance Area. And elsewhere, in other cities, we are seeing creative solutions to the real estate dilemma.
We are seeing companies share retail space for lease, or sharing office space for lease. We are seeing companies turn to coworking space, and we are seeing many companies turn to remote working conditions.
We are confident we will see many more creative solutions in the near future. Keep your eyes peeled for such creative solutions like Box Office Warehouse Suites, and call us if you are in the Fort Worth area and you would like to tour our creative solutions.
