What Are Occupier Services in Commercial Real Estate?
Occupier Services, as you will see defined below, can span a wide range of work provided to those occupying and operating out of commercial real estate. This can include work helping clients with a single location, or advising across a portfolio of leased and owned locations.
This article will define Occupier Services, outline its scope in the context of commercial real estate, and help all types of commercial real estate occupiers gain an improved understanding of the many resources available to them when they work with an experienced commercial real estate broker.
Defining Occupier Services
Let’s begin by getting our terms in order. First, what is an ‘occupier’? In the context of commercial real estate, an occupier can be defined as:
A corporate entity that conducts its business from the premises of a commercial real estate property.
An occupier may be a tenant leasing the property they occupy from a landlord. Or they may be a subletter, leasing the property from the primary tenant. They may even be an owner-occupier, AKA an entity that owns a commercial property and runs their business out of all or part of that property. All of these fall under the occupier category and can benefit from accessing ‘Occupier Services’, which we can define as:
The various solutions and resources that a commercial real estate broker offers to commercial real estate occupiers.
Common Occuper Services
As a category, Occupier Services is kept broad on purpose, to cover the complete range of solutions and resources that an occupier may require. No two businesses are the same, and the services provided may vary from client to client and from brokerage to brokerage. It all depends on where a brokerage’s unique expertise lies and the needs of their particular occupier client base.
Some common Occupier Services commercial real estate brokers may offer include:
Lease Administration
Lease administration provides tenant-occupiers with proactive management of critical lease events and terms. It helps protect tenants against missed opportunities, ensures ongoing lease compliance, catches and resolves billing errors, and maximizes savings.
Network Analysis
Network analysis can help all types of occupiers with supply chain and distribution facility optimization. This type of analysis identifies optimal facility types and locations and evaluates benefits vs. risks through invoice auditing.
Portfolio Advisory
Portfolio advisory can help owner-occupiers maximize the value and efficiency of their commercial real estate portfolios.
Transaction Management
Transaction management helps guide tenant-occupiers through the commercial real estate lease negotiation process. It can also help manage other transactions that require expert market knowledge.
Site Selection
Site selection is the process of identifying and securing commercial real estate that is ideally suited to an occupier’s business needs. This service leverages market research, labor analysis, lease analysis, incentive negotiation, and more to identify these optimal site opportunities.
How Are Tenant Representation and Occupier Services Different?
The distinction between tenant representation and occupier services can be subtle. Put simply, all of the services offered as part of Tenant Representation can be considered Occupier Services. However, not all Occupier Services can be considered part of Tenant Representation.
This distinction stems from the fact that not all occupiers are tenants. Occupiers can include other types of commercial real estate occupants, such as property owners. So certain services, like portfolio advisory, can be considered part of Occupier Services since they benefit one category of commercial real estate occupier, However, it can’t be considered part of tenant representation, since a tenant does not have a real estate portfolio.
Learn More About Modern CRE’s Corporate Occupier Services
At Modern Commercial Real Estate, we’ve dedicated our firm to helping occupiers improve their commercial real estate strategy, optimize their portfolios, and advance their business interests. We offer comprehensive, expert services to help occupiers with every aspect of their commercial real estate plan. Contact us today to learn more about how our Occupier Services can help address your business needs.
