Cushman and Wakefield recently published their Winter 2009 Office Space Forecast and it's not a pretty picture. Basically, it is what we would expect with this economy.  Office space occupancy in the CBDs will continue to deteriorate due to employment reductions throughout the the US. This will occur even as the economy starts it's rebound. 

No surprise that they are also predicting sublease space offerings to continue their uptrend.

According to the report, rental rates will begin their descent and bottom out by year end 2010. With vacancies increasing they are predicting that the gains made in rental rates over the past 3 years will be wiped out.

"Manhattan, San Francisco and Orange County CA could see rates dropping as much as 20.0% from 2008 levels. Meanwhile, energy-producing markets like Houston will remain bright spots (though not necessarily for long if oil and gas prices continue to fall), as they are expected to eke out modest rent gains throughout this economic downturn." They also predict that Boston, Philadelphia, Washington, DC and Seattle will weather the current downturn much better than other markets. While new York and New Jersey are expected to be the weakest and slowest to recover.

C & W Winter 2009 Forecast (pdf)

A classic movie celebrates it's 10th Anniversary today.  The movie "Office Space" was released on February 19, 1999 and has gone on to have a cult following.

"Office Space is a comedy film written and directed by Mike Judge. Though it pokes fun at work life in a typical software company during the late 1990s, the film resonates with corporate employees as a whole, by portraying individuals who are entirely fed up with their jobs. The movie was filmed in both Austin and Dallas, Texas."  From Wikipedia

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If we can get all OfficeFinder members following each other. Wow what a community and what a great resource! 5 minutes ago from web

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Ran across tips at http://tinyurl.com/dabgqx on getting organized. Good stuff. From @karenwarner about 24 hours ago from web

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Sunday is a great day to get things done without interruption to allow Monday to be more productive! 12:53 PM Feb 15th from web

@CornerstoneProp Startup businesses are tough clients to rep. I hope they have really strong financials. Good luck. 8:32 AM Feb 13th from web

Our new email campaign is the OfficeFinder's Recession Buster - Tips and Tools to help you generate more revenue and save money. 7:14 AM Feb 13th from web

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Will our 750+ officefinder.com members use Twitter to follow our activities? We will see. 8:52 AM Feb 12th from web

We are on Twitter

If you do not know about twitter, you probably should investigate.  It is one of the most popular of the social media websites.  It is pretty simple and straight forward. You are allowed to create an account and post messages of not more than 140 characters, called micro blogging. The goal is to develop a following of people with who you want to share information. Wikipedia goes into more detail, but the easiest way to find out about it is to sign up and play with it.

OfficeFinder will be posting daily about what we are doing in regard to our sales and marketing as well as communicating with our members.

Check it out.

Pre-Move Walkthrough

Conduct a pre-move meeting and walk-through with your selected moving company representatives and primary vendors. This allow you to confirm your pending time-line and clarify responsibilities. Ensure all items have been tagged and labeled for placement in the new space. EVERYTHING should be labeled, even trash cans floor mats, and plants.

Also secure several backup copies of all company data systems including phone and voice mail systems, routers and firewalls, and workstations and servers. Transport the data backup copies to the new location separate from the main system and each other.

Some Small Details Often Overlooked

• Make sure you have a spare set of keys available for the new space
• Confirm the electricity is on and the restrooms are working
• Confirm that your phones and Internet connection are working properly
• Confirm there are no outstanding obligations to your previous office space

Relocating High Tech Equipment

As you can see relocating a business is an extremely complex task, and no component of this process is more challenging than moving your high tech equipment. You can hire a specialty technology mover, but they can be expensive.  For those companies that wish to manage this task in-house, see our ‘Relocating High-Tech Office Equipment checklist that offers some sound advice for the relocation of high-tech office equipment.

Conclusion

As you can see, a successful commercial relocation requires the consideration of many different factors. We hope this guide has helped to inform you on some of these important considerations relating to the Office Relocation process.

In our final instalment of this series will introduce you to a great new resource we have developed to assist you in a smooth office relocation. Stay tuned.

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