March 31, 2020
Leases contain remedies for every natural disaster short of a zombie apocalypse, but not even leasing attorneys could have predicted the global pandemic that shapes our recent reality. Firms are having to restructure, rethink strategies surrounding acquisitions, and mandate work from home, the first time in history of this scale. While the circumstances of today are nothing short of extraordinary, the problem areas being exposed in commercial real estate are nothing new to the industry.
We spoke to our customers and other members of the industry about how they’re dealing with COVID-19. Here’s what we learned:
Tenant Exposure
Retail is hurting, industrial properties are at capacity, and office spaces are ghost towns. Coworking spaces are experiencing up to a 40% decline in membership renewals and new membership sales, bringing growth to a halt.
Our customers are assessing their risk and seek easy access to exposure of certain lease types and readily available contact information to reach out to at-risk tenants.
Options Reports
In today’s environment more than ever, companies feel time pressure to sift through hundreds of lease documents to find a single data point. The ability to see rights and options across an entire portfolio or group of buildings allows professionals to assess consistency across their portfolio and provide a one-stop-shop for analysis of lease options from early termination to expansion.
Single Platform Accessible By All
Reliable data is imperative to act strategically and ensure organizations are on the same page while working remotely for the first time. Encumbrances attached to corkboards, encrypted accounting information, and paper lease abstracts hinder remote work and “social distancing”. Companies are enforcing working from home, which mandates lease data must be accessible via the Cloud, creating a single source of truth and consistency across the organization.
In a time where managing complexity, reducing time, and decreasing the space between you and your data are crucial for success, it is time to assess the capabilities of your tech stack.
Put on Your Risk Goggles
Vacancy rates are one of the top priorities your tech stack should cater to in a volatile market. Does your tech stack allow you to manipulate tenant data to plan for different scenarios? Tech that allows you to store contact information, manipulate a dynamic stacking plan, and consolidate critical dates across buildings and your entire portfolio allows landlords to spend less time imputing data themselves and puts them in the driver seat of strategic decisions sooner.
Can You Keep Track of Your Highest Revenue Tenants?
How can you aggregate your rent data to ensure occupancy with your highest paying tenants? Ensuring you can keep tabs on your highest revenue tenants to follow up with rent information, state of their business, and negotiate lease information allows landlords to be proactive about any issues that can come up when the state of the market becomes volatile. Your tech should easily filter your tenant exposure by rent and square footage.
Does Your Tech Allow For Time-Efficient Transactions?
Having data that is easily accessible from home offices for your entire org is essential today. Lease data needs to be shared and collaborated on with lenders, investors, and acquisitions teams can make for a smoother due diligence process for refis and depos. Make sure your tech stack is consistently up to date to secure the data integrity of your assets and prospective properties.
Leaseable users are able to gather critical data points for quick analysis at the click of a button and in real-time. With custom portfolio-wide reporting, you have access to pertinent information across any number of your properties and the ability to reach out to tenant contacts stored in tenant profiles. All of your documents are easily searchable with Leaseable Smart Search, creating time-efficient processes when looking for specific clauses and data points.
A Final Note
The world is grappling with an issue of enormous scale and human impact, and our hearts go out to all who have been affected by the outbreak of coronavirus (COVID-19).
While all our businesses are in uncharted territory, Leaseable was built to handle moments like this, and our relentless commitment to your success is stronger than ever. Our company was founded on core values -- trust, customer success and innovation-- and our values are unwavering and continue to guide everything we do.
If you have special requests or if we can help in any additional way, please don’t hesitate to reach out.