Leasing an office space for your business involves a lot of choices, and even the length of a lease’s terms needs to be considered. So which choice is better—a short-term or long-term office lease? Read on to learn the ins and outs of both.
Long-Term Leases
A long-term lease is generally considered a lease agreement that lasts longer than six months. The most standard long-term office lease duration is 12 months, but it can extend further for various reasons. Depending on many factors like industry, region, and the use of the space, a long-term lease can be a great option for landlords and clients alike.
One major benefit of a long-term lease is stability. If you’re looking to stay in one place for a long time so you can focus on getting work done without worrying about moving, a long-term lease is likely for you. Long-term office leases have been around for a long time, so there are many guides on how to navigate them if you’re starting a new business.
Leasing an office calls for a lot of discussions with the real estate agent or landlord you’re working with about what your needs are. Since you’re committing to several months of work in the same space, you need to ensure that the space can accommodate you and your employees. Ask a lot of questions about things like internet access, whether there are additional fees for cleaning, and the cost (if any) of any excess utility use. These are things you can’t afford to miss when signing a contract because they can come back to haunt you if you aren’t paying attention in the beginning. If you don’t have a lawyer, it’s a very good idea to have one review the contract before you sign it, especially if it’s long. They can help break down the agreement into simpler terms for you and point out anything you may need to request clarification on.
Make sure you visit the space a few times to get a feel for it. Is it centrally located for your staff, and are the other tenants respectful of parking and access? Test the internet speeds to ensure you’ve got the bandwidth to do the kind of work that you need.
One major setback of a long-term office lease is the commitment. While it often works out for folks who rent this way, there are horror stories about business owners feeling trapped in a space that doesn’t suit them. Don’t neglect your due diligence when finding the right long-term office space for lease near you.
Short-Term Leases
A short-term office lease is typically any lease that lasts less than six months, though an official definition doesn’t really exist. Essentially, short-term leases describe a lease agreement where the terms are under a year or month-to-month. In some cases, leases can be paid on a daily basis, so you’re only paying for days you use the office space, though this is a very uncommon situation.
The benefits of a short-term office lease are many, especially for smaller businesses. Whether you’re a new startup looking to establish a home base or a well-established company in need of something more modern, short-term office leases are becoming the norm.
In the past, most office space for lease was owned by a property management company and rented via a landlord, and most leases were long-term. This worked for a long time, since office rentals were catered to the office work culture of the time. But things have changed pretty drastically since the ‘80s and ’90s and even the 2000s. The internet gives employees the freedom to work from home or remotely at the same level of productivity, so the need for shared workspace has shrunk. Since the nature of many industries has been changing and growing, you never know when you may need to expand your staff or make some cutbacks. When you lease an office space over the long term, you commit to an amount of space you may not need anymore if you have some folks go remote. Alternatively, if you expand your scope of work and need to hire more hands, you may be unable to expand your lease comfortably. Not every long-term office lease space is that flexible. Fortunately, short-term leases do.
Leasing Office Space With Center 615
So, if you need an office lease near you, keep reading because we’ve got good news. Many look to lease from coworking spaces, which are excellent homes for startups, freelancers, and companies navigating changing industries. A coworking space is a dynamic environment that is poised for growth, making it a great place to establish your base of operations. The flexibility here means you won’t need to worry about growing your office footprint.
Center 615 is Nashville’s premier coworking space, a perfect place for your business to grow comfortably. And with our flexibility, you can stick around for the long term if you’d like without the need for extensive lease terms. At Center 615, you have the room to expand or change however you need with no penalty.. With a number of amenities that make your short-term office lease as comfortable as possible, we’re sure you’re going to like it here. Many traditional long-term office lease contracts are verbose and don’t include a lot in the way of perks for you and your staff. Center 615 is committed to making sure that’s not the case for our clients.
Besides the infrastructural must-haves like electricity, heating and cooling, and free accessible parking, our amenities go above and beyond to client benefits like 24/7 access. How important is it to get your work done when you want to? We understand that not everyone works the same hours, and the comfort of having a secure and ready location for work whenever you need it is critical. Our campus also boasts a fitness center, nap and meditation rooms, free meeting room space, event spaces and an on-site notary. The office space you lease should be a place where your business can have all its needs met so you spend less time worrying about simple logistics and more time doing your best work.
Try New Office Setups
Ready to find the right place for your business but still want to explore your contract options with an upfront and easy-to-digest lease agreement? Book a tour of Center 615 as soon as possible and learn exactly why over 75 Nashville businesses call our campus home!