Whether you’re leading a small startup or a large corporation, you’ve probably thought more about your office space in the past year than ever before. That’s because the pandemic has tipped the corporate landscape on its side, changing not only the way you work but how you work, too.
As more companies extend work-from-home orders, spaces that were once bustling centres of commerce are now ghost towns.
If your office is sitting vacant, you might be worried about the overhead costs of keeping this underutilized space. But at the same time, you may not be ready to say goodbye to your office if you use it for staggered shifts.
Here’s where subleasing your office may come in handy.
What Does it Mean to Sublease Your Corporate Space?
In corporate real estate, a sublease allows you to rent out your space without giving up your claim on the office. It’s a legally binding contract that transfers tenancy from your company to a new company for a portion of your existing lease.
During that time, the new tenant will use the space as if it’s their own. And just like any other tenant, they pay rent. They’ll either pay you for the space they use, or they may pay your landlord directly. This arrangement helps you offload the cost of keeping your office.
What Happens to Your Office Furniture?
In some cases, the subletting company will use your space and everything contained within it, including your cubicles, conference tables, telephones, and tech.
But in many more cases, they’ll bring in their own equipment, which means you’ll have to move your assets to make space for your subletter.
Where are you going to put all this stuff if you don’t have an office? The best office moving companies have an answer: commercial storage. These storage units give you a safe place to stow away valuable assets and tech until you’re ready to go back to your old space.
Commercial storage units aren’t always readily available in a bustling urban centre like Toronto, where space is at a premium, but that doesn’t mean you’re out of luck.
Spend some time online researching moving companies to find movers in Toronto that provide safe commercial storage units in addition to their office moving services. The best movers Toronto has to offer can provide storage solutions for any company in the city.
You Can Sublease All or Parts of Your Office
The flexibility of a sublease makes it an ideal option, regardless of your working situation.
Depending on the nature of your company, some of your staff may have to work in-person. A subletting company can use the office space your in-person employees don’t need.
If you embraced a true work-from-home policy, you could arrange for another company to take over the entire office until you’re ready to get back to work in-person.
The Sublease Market is Hot
Sublease space is booming, partly because so many companies are working from home. In the Greater Toronto Area, for example, sublease space increased by 2.4 million square feet. Downtown Toronto, meanwhile, has seen sublease availability increase by four times.
Don’t let the competition fool you. If your local market is anything like Toronto, it still favours the seller. Despite the high number of offices available, there’s a greater number of smaller companies on the hunt for flexible, shorter lease terms. If they nab yours, you get to save on overheads without saying goodbye to your coveted office space.