Lease Rates

Commercial Property For Rent In Dallas/Fort Worth

If you’re looking for commercial space to rent in Tarrant County, Dallas County or around the DFW Metroplex, you can expect to find competitive but not fire-sale rates. That’s because the Dallas-Fort Worth area is a good place to do business: It’s home to a resilient economy, an educated and motivated work force, and some of the best connections, by air and by road, to the biggest markets in the United States.

The area has not made it through the downturn unscathed: lease rates and occupancy rates are trending downward, and industry veterans expect a challenging year in the market as the threat of rising commercial foreclosures looms. But with all of the area’s economic advantages—including a very business-friendly environment at every level of government—there’s no sense of panic, and the available lease rates will reflect that.

The Ins And Outs Of Leases

The cost of any commercial lease, generally expressed in an amount per square foot, will depend on commonsense variables such as location and the term of the lease. Another factor, of course, is the lease type.

Anyone who has rented a house or apartment has signed the equivalent of a gross lease: The lessee pays the rent, while the landlord is responsible for all the other costs. For a variety of reasons, a gross lease doesn’t necessarily make sense for a commercial tenant or landlord. Often the tenant wants more control over the property, including the right to make improvements to the building. Such a lease, where the tenant assumes greater control of the property and in turn pays the taxes, insurance and upkeep costs as well as the rent, is known as the “triple-net” or “net net net” lease. The rates on such leases tend to reflect the other costs involved, and lease itself tends to be lengthy—50 years in some cases.

For tenants and landlords who don’t want to commit to a triple-net agreement, there’s the double-net lease, where the landlord remains responsible for such things as parking, heating and cooling systems and the buildings’ structural integrity. For retailers, there’s also the question of whether the landlord will take a percentage of the gross income. Here’s a handy calculator: http://realestate.about.com/od/commercialrealestat1/a/lease_calculati.htm

Lease Rates in North Texas

One factor to consider in North Texas, with its deregulated electricity market, is that many gross leases are now “plus electric,” allowing the landlord to recover more of the costs of electricity should prices spike (a not infrequent occurrence).

There are plenty of sites offering listings for anyone interested in office space in Ft. Worth, or in commercial space in Dallas, or in commercial property in the Dallas Fort Worth Metroplex. For those willing to go the informal route, try Craigslist, http://dallas.craigslist.org/off/. Locally, sites such as http://www.buyandsellfortworth.com/commercial_real_estate.htm can offer a variety of listings; there are also national sites such as LoopNet (http://www.loopnet.com) with listings for Dallas, Fort Worth and the surrounding area to consider.