As a business owner considering your office leasing options, you probably focus most strongly on the interior of the space you are thinking of leasing, but it’s very important to consider your parking options as well. This is especially true in heavily populated commercial areas, where street parking is at a premium and many buildings have less than adequate space available for employees and customers.

Parking is an office leasing lease term that can make or break your commitment to a particular building. You must ask questions and negotiate the terms that work best for you. Although commercial office buildings are required to provide adequate parking, many older building don’t offer enough and even newer buildings may not accommodate enough vehicles during peak use periods.

Find out if parking is open or reserved. Designated spots guarantee that you and your employees will have parking available at any time. Inquire about customer parking as well. Guaranteed employee parking doesn’t include spaces for your visitors, but if you don’t have many, this may not be an issue for you.

Test the parking situation. Before you begin to negotiate the parking terms in the lease, check out how the parking works during rush hour (are there enough spots?), how easy and quick it is to reach your office suite from the lot or garage, and how secure the parking area is at various times.

Make sure that parking terms are included in the lease. Don’t rely on oral agreements or assurances, and be sure the terms are clear and detailed. Don’t accept a “parking is included” statement; specify how many spots, how much, whether they are open or reserved, arrangements for visitor parking, etc.

For many companies, parking options can be as important as the offices themselves. When considering your office leasing options, be sure your needs are covered in the lease, and that they are spelled out to your satisfaction. We can help at no cost to you. Contact us for more information.