article moving OBC locations is painful but often necessary by Dave Myers, OfficeKey

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Moving Locations is Painful but Often Necessary:
What You Should Consider
By Dave Myers, Founder, OfficeKey

In 2004, OfficeKey moved its downtown location to have better parking. Prior to the move, the Landlord put flyers under the doors of OfficeKey clients offering to duplicate the service after OfficeKey moved. OfficeKey had to convince each client it was better to move than stay put. OfficeKey had to make some price concessions, lost a few clients but is still benefiting from a better location. In 2011, OfficeKey moved its northern Cincinnati location to have more dedicated offices. Clients moved in the first day, and then were denied access the next day and the next day, and so on for a week. They were denied access because the landlord delayed approval of OfficeKey's sublease. The landlord overlooked a commitment to a neighboring law firm that said “no other law firm could be on the floor” then tried to require that no lawyer could step foot in OfficeKey's space. The landlord finally realized this limitation was excessive and unnecessary. Again, this move had an unexpected painful experience but OfficeKey is better off in the new location.

Be careful that the pain of moving does not keep you from moving when necessary. Business Centers move to lower costs, to rightsize, to modernize, to improve parking, to have lower taxes, or to be in the new center of activity. A business center maximizes its negotiating power with a landlord, when it is prepared to move.

Plan ahead to alleviate the following painful experiences:

Clients will look for another office arrangement. Be strategic about when you tell clients of the move. One strategy is to give them short notice so they have no time to find an alternative. I suggest telling them of the move months in advance. Prior to telling them, complete the new floorplan and tell each client which office has been selected for them. Tell clients they have first right of refusal on that office until a certain date.

A competitor may open in the space you vacate. If this is a possibility, remove all the fixtures you can that make the space suitable for a competitor. Most leases require tenants to remove trade fixtures. Take advantage of this clause. Remove client mailboxes, patch panels, cabling, door signs and even the reception desk.

Clients may stay put after the Business Center leaves. Guard against this by having a clause in the lease with the landlord that prevents the landlord from renting your former space to a client that remains when you vacate. Very few leases have this clause so the alternative is to have your space “go dark” for a couple months. Vacate two months prior to the end of a lease and require every client to leave at that time.

Clients will complain about the cost and disruption of moving. Do the move on a weekend. Schedule the moving company weeks in advance. Have them bring in boxes and carts a week ahead of the move so clients can be prepared. Pay for the move and pay a predetermined amount, say $500, for clients to make stationery changes.

Moving is expensive. Tell then landlord that the deal on the new space needs to include money for moving expenses. If you are truly in a position where you can stay or leave, the landlord of the current location and the landlord of the potential new location will have to ante their best offer. A new location will offer a large tenant improvement allowance. Be sure to get the landlord of the current location to offer the equivalent.

If you run a business center, you will wrestle with the question: “Should we stay or move?” You quickly realize that it is a tougher decision than locating a new center. Fortunately, there are many experienced operators in our industry that will take the time to give you straight answers. We can learn from each other on this important topic.

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About the Author:
Dave Myers founded OfficeKey in 1984 as an HQ franchise. OfficeKey runs the office for 240 companies from five locations in Cincinnati. Formerly, Dave was a design engineer for large machine tools that bend steel. Dave and his wife walk to Reds Baseball and Bengals Football games from their downtown condo. Dave rides a bike on hills overlooking the Ohio River.