You already understand that quoting rent as a cost per square foot is one method of comparing the relative costs of multiple lease options. Apples-to-apples, right? Wrong!
Here’s why:
- There are several ways to quantify square footage: gross, net usable, net rentable. Each landlord may be quoting based on a different designation. Kind of like yards and meters; close, but not exactly the same. Over a large building over many years, these differences can be a significant cost.
- Even if each landlord is quoting net rentable square footage, they may not be using the same measurement method. The industry standard is to use BOMA. This standard accounts for common areas, columns and mechanical shafts, and demising wall thicknesses such that two people should come up with almost exactly the same measurement.
- Landlords may be quoting square footage that they believe is based by BOMA, but they can still be wrong. These calculations often come from area measurements that were provided from others, sometimes predating current BOMA Standards. Best to employ an independent third party with expertise with the latest BOMA Standards (and is willing to seal a letter certifying the measurements).
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