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How Permit Expediting Helps You Attract the Best Tenants of Any Concept

Although there are books, panel discussions, and forums just on how to attract the best tenants to your development, rarely do they address how permit expediting influences the deal; but consider this: what are your biggest barriers to getting your dream tenants and brands? Take it even further and think like a tenant. Where is the right space, for the right price, and at the right time? In this article, I will discuss how reframing your perspective on permit solutions attracts the best tenants to spaces.

The User Experience

Tenants are like most business people: they want to create fresh, fun, and profitable experiences for their customers. They look for the right space, at the right price, and at the right time.  However, the one thing they normally don’t say outright to developers and affiliated partners is they pay attention to their experience as well.

Experience is the buzzword for commercial development these days and is used commonly to refer to the outward consumer product. If we’re honest though, your tenants evaluate their experience with architects, developers, landlords and general contractors too. Ensuring a pleasant and efficient consumer experience is important in attracting your dream tenant.

The Right Space

The right space depends not just on demographics, whether the space is an end-cap, and if they have enough parking; it also depends on the materials they can use for fixtures, finishes, and how long it will take before they open a business. For the purposes of this article, I’m going to classify these items as barriers.

A barrier one of our clients came to us with for their tenant was an exhaust hood specification for the kitchen of their concept. Having a different exhaust hood not approved by the local jurisdiction can be costly and help your tenant fail an inspection. What did our client do? Reach out to us, and our project manager was more than happy to provide an example of an approved exhaust hood.

A permit expediting solutions firm is the ace up your sleeve with respect to these barriers in the following ways:

• Researches the site’s past
• Provides the site due diligence for your tenant’s concept
• Can estimate timeframe
• Knows the approved equipment
• Understands the code precedence of the area
• Can provide a list of approved materials for the area

The Right Price

Tenants are willing to pay a fair market price for the right space, but often times deals go south because pre-construction and construction costs escalate beyond the margin of benefit for the space. Mishandling phase I construction resulting in extra costs feels like hidden fees to tenants and takes away from their user experience as well as making it a barrier.

A story that sticks out in my mind is an instance with a prospective client who had us do due diligence for a brand new concept in Northern California. When our project manager reported the estimated fees based on the provided information to the prospective client, they decided the cost was too high for that site. This provided valuable insight for them and they decided to become a repeat Permit Advisors customer! For more on how pricing permits check out our article, “Pricing Mall Permits.” We analyze concepts in broad terms so our principles can be applied to any project.

Permit expediting solutions firms help reduce costs for your tenant in the following ways:

• Can estimate fees
• Will negotiate fees for your clients
• Can help defer fees so you can roll costs into a different part of the project

The Right Time

Tenants want to open their businesses quickly so customers can begin enjoying the concept as well as to make money. Reducing timelines help tenants accomplish these goals and exponentially raise their experience with you. However, you have to make sure you find that healthy nexus between time and money. There have been instances with large corporate brands who’ve decided to go with the lowest priced permit expediting service (have I mentioned how permit services are the worst?) only to miss not only 1 construction start date but 2 construction start dates. Establish that your firm is charging the right price for timeliness.

Permit expediting solutions firms pride themselves on the time they save their clients and can help in the following ways:

• Shave off time in the review process
• Communicate requirements to tenant design teams to shrink re-design time
• Provide a single timeline

Conclusion

Attracting the best tenants is about minimizing the barriers to revenue which hinges upon your handling of permits. Permit expediters will reduce these barriers and increase the likelihood a tenant will want to work with you again.

With that being said, not all permit expediting firms are created equal, and for more information on choosing a permit expediter read our article “Permit Advisors: The Final Word on Mall Permits”. While it’s geared for mall developers the main idea is true for anyone on any development. You can also call Permit Advisors for a consultation for your specific project.

About Us: Permit Advisors Inc is a nationwide permit expediting, entitlement, and consulting firm based out of Beverly Hills, CA. We have established relationships with municipalities nation-wide and implement time as well as cost-saving strategies to efficiently complete projects. We provide a project management team to ensure every aspect of the project is given specific attention while maintaining open communication between the jurisdiction, consultants, and our clients. We serve retailers, architects, landlords, tenant coordinators, contractors, and franchisees nationwide in the hotel, retail, restaurant, mixed-use, multifamily, entertainment, grocery, and logistical plant development industries. Contact us today for a consultation at www.permitadvisors.com.