CRE Is Rough Right Now. Here's How You Can Attract and Keep Quality Tenants.

Seven tactical ideas to bring good prospects to YOUR door
headshot of Molly McBeath
Molly McBeath, content writer
Sep 24, 2024 (10 min read)

It's all over the CRE news feeds: supply gluts, shorter leases, less appetite for space. Attracting tenants in commercial real estate is tough right now, with the recent rate cut no guarantee of smoother days ahead. To help you stand out from your competition, here are seven tactical ideas to help bring good prospects to your door.

1. Eliminate or minimize admin fees on the redistribution of utilities.

We're not advocating giving away money; instead, we're recommending lowering fees and making up that income through more-efficient billing. The more accurate and fast your billing is, the more money and time you recover and the better you can serve your tenants.

2. Decrease OT HVAC Fees.

Hear us out here. OT HVAC is a major profit generator, but that’s why lowering your fee would attract attention. And with a good understanding of your building’s energy data, you could recover that profit difference through lower CAM and other offerings. For example, you could sell condenser water for a tenant’s HVAC system. This option costs the building owner less than OT HVAC and is usually guided by market rates rather than actual costs.

3. Share savings from demand response programs.

The majority of U.S. utilities offer their commercial and industrial customers some kind of DR option. Why not get your tenants to participate and then share some of that upside with them?

4. Meet with existing large tenants as well as prospects interested in sustainability.

Talking to high consumers and businesses with sustainability goals about how to lower their electrical usage will help them reduce their operating costs, demonstrate their efficiency, and strengthen your relationship.

5. Incentivize tenants to decrease their costs per square foot.

Some tenants are internally motivated to be more efficient but lack the information and insight on what to do and how. Others may prefer a financial inducement, such as lowering their rate $0.50 per square foot (for example) for a specified drop in consumption.

6. Purchase – rather than take – back power from tenants.

In almost all cases, the tenant’s broker negotiates for more Watts/sq ft than the tenant will use. But because the building electrical system has limits, the building owner/manager now has less electricity to offer new tenants. If you're in this situation, make a win-win deal with your current tenants about their demand and bring in that good prospect with a now-higher supply.

7. Offer tracking for ESG/sustainability/renewables reporting.

There is still no decision on a standard for emissions reporting. For tenants who care about this (e.g., tenants with European partners), you can sweeten a deal by making their work lives that much easier.
(Our system makes it really easy to import utility data into… well, anything! Contact us with whatever you need, and we’ll set up a user-friendly API for you.)

The fact is that in today’s market, the key to attracting and retaining quality tenants is a handful of innovative maneuvers and a willingness to adapt. Property owners and managers today must differentiate their offerings and create value for tenants. Those who do will secure longer-term, mutually beneficial relationships and be better positioned to thrive in CRE’s increasingly competitive market.

About utiliVisor

Your tenant submetering and energy plant optimization services are an essential part of your operation. You deserve personalized energy insights from a team that knows buildings from the inside out, applies IoT technology and is energized by providing you with accurate data and energy optimization insights. When you need experience, expertise, and service, you need utiliVisor on your side, delivering consistent energy and cost-saving strategies to you. What more can our 40 years of experience and historical data do for you? Call utiliVisor at 212-260-4800 or visit utilivisor.com