When considering several buildings, you must have completed a Tenant Improvement Breakdown.There are two concepts at play simultaneously which need to be defined in order to avoid confusion and gain a true understanding of dollars. It is this confusion and lack of understanding the landlord is banking on so as to avoid any additional outlay of cash. But you must be informed in order to make available those elements for the construction of your office which go directly to solving your problems and satisfying the criteria and needs you established at the outset. It will be essential to understand what the existing conditions are at each building; what value is already in the building BEFORE construction. It will be different for every building.In those cases where the space has already been previously occupied by a tenant, your architect will be able to determine what residual value is in the improvements (Doors, Frames, HVAC, Grid, Lights, etc) and what is non-valuable and which must have cash to replace or add ( carpet, walls that need to be removed, electrical wiring, etc.). From a marketing point of view, there may be confusion while you are considering several buildings when the different buildings are quoting different Tenant Improvement Allowance amounts.Here is an example why you need to ignore all these elements until the architect has determined the existing conditions, and the planned use of dollars.Two new office buildings on the market at the same time were offering very similar dollar amounts per sq. ft. for rent.However, one building was advertising a substantially higher Tenant Improvement Allowance.At first glance, it appeared to be a handsome draw to the uninformed, and for some tenants, they got caught in the hype.The reality was that the higher advertised amount was necessary just to bring some of the basic systems in place, like major duct-runs, sprinkler head distribution, etc.The reality was that by comparison, the building that had quoted the lower Tenant Improvement Allowance actually was providing greater direct dollars to the tenants because most major systems, ceiling grid, sprinklers, etc had already been installed in the building shell construction cost.
