How to attract high-end commercial tenants

Pacis Centre along Nairobi’s Waiyaki Way. Design and space are among features multinationals look for in commercial buildings when they are leasing. FILE 

By EVELYN SITUMA

In Summary

• Good finishing and designs are key in attracting upscale tenants.

Last year, I met a property investor who had just completed building his commercial office block in
Westlands. At the time, the interest rate on loans had gone up forcing most developers to consider putting up for sale part of their units to be able to repay loans that were in millions of shillings.

But for this investor, the intention of putting up the commercial building was to net the hefty income from international tenants and in no way was he going to put any of his office blocks up for sale.

As some individuals put ‘‘To let’’ signs on their gates looking for tenants, he was signing a lucrative leasing agreement for his units. His secret, he says, is the finishing and designs he used for this building.

He wanted to attract the best multinationals with good money to spend. This is what property owners consider as good deals. Despite the millions he spent to spruce up his commercial block, the returns are immense and already paying back.

According to this developer, the problem is that most developers seem not have realised that the design and finishing of a commercial building is what gets you the kind of clients you want.

Multinationals and any serious tenant is looking for something beyond the average. They want style, space and ambience where they work.

Property management firms with international expertise can help construct your building to expected and acceptable standards by multinational firms. 

Among the things that will get you lucrative clients are: No office wants to live through the nightmare of power outages that are so frequent in the country. Alternative power system like a generator ensures that tenants can carry on their work without unnecessary interruptions.

Therefore, if you want to attract and retain the right calibre of tenant, it is better to dig deep and add the cost of a generator or back up power in your list of expenses when constructing an office block.

Water is key in any building and having it in constant supply not only gives tenants peace of mind but also ensures sanitation levels are upheld. A bore hole or a reservoir tank will help the developer to provide constant water supply in the building.

Constructing underground rain harvesting tanks is another approach that developers can exploit. In Kenya, a lot of rain water goes to waste due to the fact that many people do not harvest it.

A sparkling clean environment is one that attracts most people. We all want to live in a clean place. But for multinationals, a clean environment goes beyond manicured and watered lawns, clean fairways to garbage disposal and collection. Most of them want to see the waste separated and garbage bins emptied often.

They also want it to be collected frequently.  So when you are thinking about this moneyed tenant, think clean and green.

Design

Bespoke design is something that also carries the tenant’s  brand and identity. Multinationals want to rent a commercial building with nice designs as Ben Woodhams, Managing Director Knight Frank has noticed in his profession. The other feature he notes is space.