Space type
Office space for lease in Vancouver
From a few desks in Gastown to a full floor downtown, I help office tenants find the right space and negotiate a lease that fits how they actually work. Compare buildings on rentable area, additional rent and incentives, not just the asking rent.
General information, not tax or legal advice. Rules and rates change, and every situation is different. Talk to your lawyer and accountant before you act on anything here.
What I look at for office tenants
- Real cost. Base rent, additional rent, load factor and GST, compared across buildings on the same basis.
- How you work now. Hybrid schedules, meeting rooms, quiet space, client visits. The right size is often smaller or differently shaped than the current one.
- Building quality. HVAC hours, elevators, security, end-of-trip facilities, washrooms, accessibility, after-hours access.
- Transit and parking for your team and your clients.
- Sublease space, which can come furnished, on shorter terms and below direct rents, but with less control. I can tell you when that trade is worth it.
Areas
Downtown and the Central Business District, Coal Harbour, Yaletown, Gastown, the Broadway corridor, Mount Pleasant and the North Shore. See areas.
What gets negotiated
Free rent, tenant improvement allowance, renewal options, operating cost exclusions, signage, parking, and the right to sublet if your team changes size. The full list is in what’s negotiable.
More detail for office tenants
- Rentable versus usable area. Most buildings measure to a BOMA standard, so you pay for a share of common areas. Compare buildings on rentable area and load factor.
- Additional rent. Ask for the last two to three years of operating cost statements, and whether costs are capped.
- Inducements. Free rent and a tenant improvement allowance are common on longer terms. Work out the net effective rent to compare offers.
- Building systems. After-hours HVAC charges, elevator capacity, washrooms and accessibility.
- Strata office. Some smaller suites are strata units, with their own bylaws and fees passed through to tenants.
- Restoration. Check what you have to remove or repair when the lease ends.
Building class is about how it’s run
An older building that’s well maintained and well managed can compete with newer towers, and a newer one can slip if it’s poorly run. Instead of asking for “Class A”, say what you actually need: the lobby, HVAC, elevators, management and amenities. Then compare buildings on those.
If the landlord’s lender takes over
Many leases make the tenant’s rights rank behind the landlord’s mortgage. Lenders often ask tenants to sign an agreement covering three things: the lease ranks behind the mortgage, the tenant can stay as long as they aren’t in default even if the lender takes the building, and the tenant will accept a new owner as landlord. The middle part, non-disturbance, is the part that protects you. If your lease has a subordination clause, ask for non-disturbance to go with it, and have your lawyer review it.
What a landlord will ask you for
Landlords screen tenants. Expect to be asked for recent financial statements, a current balance sheet and sometimes tax returns, and for a newer or smaller business, a personal guarantee. Having these ready speeds up the deal. A guarantee can often be limited to a dollar amount or a number of years, so it’s worth negotiating rather than refusing.
Before you tour, read the touring checklist. Before you sign, see tenant improvements and commercial lease rules in BC.
Types of office
Which kind of office building suits you?
Look at more than one type before you decide. Each has trade-offs.
High-rise tower
Good forPrestige, staffed lobbies, more elevators and amenities. Most of downtown Vancouver.
Watch forLittle or no parking, and after-hours HVAC can be expensive in older towers.
Mid-rise
Good forA middle ground on cost and presence. Common along Broadway, at Metrotown and in town centres like Lonsdale.
Watch forCheck elevator count and parking for your staff and clients.
Low-rise and office parks
Good forMore parking and easier access, usually at lower rents.
Watch forParking upkeep runs through your common area charges, and there are fewer services on site.
Office over street retail
Good forCharacter and street presence in older town centres, two to four storeys up.
Watch forOlder elevators, one exit stair and code gaps that a permit can force you to fix.
Brick-and-beam conversion
Good forCharacter space, high ceilings, often near Gastown and Yaletown.
Watch forOld or slow elevators, a missing second exit, and limited power and HVAC.
Well-run older building
Good forA “Class B or C” that’s well managed can give you what you need for less than Class A rent.
Watch forAsk about windows that open, HVAC age and what upgrades are planned.
Floor plates
Will the floor fit how you work?
The layout of the floor decides how many offices and workstations you can fit.
Core type
- Centre core: suits private offices along the windows with staff in between
- Side core: suits large open plans, sales floors and tech teams
Core depth
- The distance from the core to the outside wall
- About 30 to 40 ft works for most plans; deeper puts people far from windows
Window line
- Mullion spacing sets the width of window offices
- Ask what office sizes the window line actually allows
Measurement
- Usable area, rentable area and the load factor
- Ask how the space was measured and for the area calculation
Before you sign
Building systems to check
Elevators and floors
- Number and age of passenger and freight elevators
- Floor load for heavy files, compact shelving or servers
Power and cabling
- Power available to the suite, and the cost to change it
- Cable routes: ceiling, floor ducts or core drilling
- Where the landlord’s telecom delivery stops, in writing
HVAC
- Standard hours and the after-hours rate
- How much fresh air comes in
Life safety and access
- Two exit stairs, strobes, smoke doors, exit signs
- Accessibility under the BC Building Code: ramps, door widths, washrooms
Parking and transit
- Parking ratio, stall count and cost
- Transit nearby, especially if clients visit
History
- How long the last tenant was there
- When a permit was last pulled
What to look out for
Office red flags
Only one exit stair
Common in older low-rise and conversions. It can limit how many people the floor can hold and trigger upgrades.
Missing exit signs or evacuation maps
Usually a sign of other compliance problems in the building.
Post-tensioned concrete floors
Core drilling for cables is very limited and has to be X-rayed first. Confirm before you plan on it.
A TI budget that only covers code
If the allowance just brings the space up to code, there’s nothing left for your fit-out. Ask what code issues are already known, and use them to negotiate.
Over-standard items not priced
Glass walls, kitchens, showers, AV and extra cooling usually cost extra. Price them early so they go into the deal.
Low parking for a client business
Clinics, accountants and advisers with client visits may not work in a tower with few stalls.
What should I gather, ask and watch for?
Documents to gather
- Headcount now and in three years
- How you use the office: desks, private offices, meeting rooms
- Budget for rent, build-out and furniture
- Where your staff and clients come from
Questions to ask
- What is the load factor, and what’s the rentable area?
- What are this year’s estimated additional rent and last year’s actual?
- Is there a furnished or model suite option?
- How much tenant improvement allowance and free rent?
Common mistakes
- Comparing asking rents without the load factor
- Ignoring transit and parking for staff
- Underestimating meeting room needs
- Starting too late to compare more than one building
Typical timeline
- 9 to 12 months beforeRequirements and search
- 6 to 9 monthsProposals and offer
- 3 to 6 monthsBuild-out
- Last monthFurniture, IT, move
Typical ranges. Your lease, lender and the City set the real dates.
Go deeper
If you’re looking for more details
Office building classes, roughly
- Class A: newer towers with good systems, lobbies and amenities. Highest rents and operating costs.
- Class B: older but well kept, often good value.
- Class C: older buildings with fewer amenities and lower rents.
There’s no official standard, so compare buildings on the features you care about.
Office costs to compare
- Base rent and additional rent, per square foot
- The load factor
- Parking, usually leased separately downtown
- After-hours HVAC charges
- Your build-out cost, after any allowance
- GST on the rent
Example monthly cost
2,000 rentable square feet at $30 base rent and $20 additional rent is $50 per square foot per year, or about $8,333 a month, plus GST and parking. Numbers here are only an example. Use the calculator with your own.
Run the numbers
- Space size estimatorA rough answer: most offices need 150 to 250 usable square feet per person, restaurants 30 to 40 per seat including the kitchen, and warehouses 25 to 35 per floor pallet position.
- Total occupancy costThe advertised rent is only part of what a commercial space costs.
- TI allowance and free rentTwo offers with the same face rent can cost very different amounts once you count free months and the tenant improvement allowance.
Search
Not quite your situation? Search
Next step
Tell me what’s going on with your space.
Fifteen minutes is usually enough to work out what you should do first. If I’m not the right person for it, I’ll tell you and point you to someone who is.