Suddenly seeking office tenants - South Florida Business Journal:

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About a year later, businesd practically dried upand Honig, the ownee of Golf Cart Connection, was facing huge property tax billes and other costs. So, in an effort to recou p some costs, he configured an office in his buildingwith furniture, phone and an Internett line, and put an ad on , looking for a tenant. “I thought maybe it woulx be a good space for an accountant ora manufacturer’s representative,” Honig said. He is not alone. Across South Florida, companies are looking to monetize unuseeoffice space. The push can mean chea rent forbargain hunters.
But, it also cranks up the pressurwe on building owners that have to compete against discounted subletds tohook tenants. Office sublets rose regionwid during thefirst quarter. There are more than 1.5 million square feet of empty spaces now being marketed for according tomarket data. For Honig, whosse firm is wrestling financial hardships, renting out an officd is a way to stem the flow ofred ink. And with the econom y sputtering, the number of firms looking to rent out officd space standsto grow. “I’ve spentt nine years in this and I have more subleases availablethan I’vw ever had before,” said John a tenant representative with in Boca Raton.
“Everyone is It’s crazy out there. Everything is negotiable righ t now. People are taking 60 cents on the Jack Lowell, VP of in Coral Gables, said these sublets are creating affordablew opportunities for tenants that don’t want to sign long-ternm leases. In Miami, subleasing represents abouyt 3 percent of theoffic market. It’s a small, but number, Lowell said. Pinpointinfg exactly how many square feet of calledshadow space, are actually available is challenginhg because space is still controlled by existin rent-paying tenants.
For the first time in Lowell said he is representing two unnamed tenants lookin g tosublease space: a downtown Miami law firm that downsize and has part of one floo for rent, and a Coral Gables financiall firm with an entire floor “Whenever you see a downturnj in the market, there is a pickup in sublease Lowell said. “The subleases are usually very Theyare moving.” The Miami law firm LLP is countintg on that being the case. With 12 monthx left on its two subtenants’ leases, the firm has alreadu hired a broker to listthe 7,400 square feet of spac it has at the tony Four Season s Tower in downtown Miami.
The firm took the extra spaceein 2005, thinking it would be needed for expansion, but has instead sublet the spac for the last four years. With a negotiable rate of $40 a squarr foot in one of the most luxurious offices buildings indowntown Miami, Tew broker, Peter Harrison of Transwestern in Miami, is confideny the space will move. Whilee there is a lot of newly constructed office spacs coming online indowntown “they don’t have our rate,” said Tom managing partner of Tew Cardenas. One of the more high-profilse sublet deals of the downturn came when leased the entirew sixth floor of its waterfrongt headquartersto .