CREJ - Journal

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INSIDE
D o property managers feel
compelled to toil over the
smallest details like door
hardware and ceiling tiles
these days? After all, it’s
clearly a landlord’s market and that
is not changing anytime soon. Rental
rates metrowide are at an all-time
high. Tenants are competing for
office space in a leasing environ-
ment hovering at 11 percent vacancy.
Out-of-state investors are snapping
up office buildings at above-market
prices. So is it logical to assume that
property managers and the landlords
they represent dial back on any kind
of building improvements? Hardly; in
fact, it is quite the
contrary.
Property man-
agers are always
aware of the details,
in every market
cycle, through every
peak and trough.
Some managers
do this more than
others, which can
distinguish one
property class from
another. While a
great many office
buildings are upgrading high-profile
areas like lobbies or landscaping, just
as many are choosing to punch up
building and tenant standards, like
lighting, doors, frames and myriad
other features that tenants and visi-
tors often find easy to miss.
Think of a 20-year-old car in good
running condition. Would you take
note of the front bumper every time
you glanced at the vehicle before get-
ting in? Most of us probably would
not. However, would you notice if one
day that same bumper was suddenly
a different color and brand new? Let’s
assume that you would pick up on
that. Building and tenant standards
can have a similar impact on pro-
spective tenants and buyers.
Individually, these improvements
rarely make a splash. But if properly
packaged and upgraded, a tenant
standard “program” can significantly
raise the aesthetic profile of a build-
ing.
The majority of office buildings in
Denver across all submarkets and
classes were built in the mid- to late-
1980s. The condition of these build-
ings varies, depending on location,
ownership, tenancy, demographics
and a dozen other factors. But they
are all considered “functionally obso-
lete.”That does not necessarily have
May 2015
Katie Bisgard
Senior project
manager, Kieding,
Denver
Photo by Brad Nichol Photography
Tenant standard upgrades can include new carpet and paint, an abundance of glass, full-height doors, new ceiling grid and efficient recessed lighting.