Why Office Space Is Premium Space at Your FBO
/Part Two of the Four-Part Crafting Advantageous Hangar, Office and Tie-Down Agreements Series
By John L. Enticknap and Ron R. Jackson, Principals, Aviation Business Strategies Group
In our previous blog, we wrote about developing a favorable hangar agreement as the lead post for our new series about crafting advantageous hangar, office and tie-down agreements, which together are the third component of the six intangibles that can build equity in your FBO.
In this post, we center in on crafting an advantageous office lease agreement.
As with a hangar lease agreement, an advantageous office lease agreement can help generate passive rental income for the FBO. Therefore, it should stand as a separate but complementary component if it is to be tied to a hangar lease package for a flight department.
In determining the value of an office space to be let, keep in mind that an office area is really premium space. It is often finished out and is heated, cooled and may be plumbed for hot and cold water as well as lavatory facilities.
An FBO has a couple of options to consider when leasing commercial office space. First, a triple net formula is often applied that takes into consideration the tenant or lessee agreeing to pay all real estate taxes, building insurance and maintenance in addition to any normal fees that are expected under the agreement to include rent, utilities, etc. In such a lease, the tenant may be responsible for a portion or all costs associated with the repair and maintenance of any common area.
The second option for a prospective tenant would be for the utilities, taxes, repair and maintenance to be included in the rental cost. This may be a simpler option for office space that is part of an office/hangar building. Multiple offices in a building may not have separate meters for electricity or water and may include multiple common areas such as lobbies, elevators, etc. The key issue for the FBO is knowing its costs of the facilities. They include the common areas and expenses for utilities debt service, lease costs, etc.
It’s important to keep in mind that like hangar agreements, FBOs should not devalue the true worth of office space in order to please a current or potential base tenant who wants a deep discount for the space based on promised potential fuel sales. It’s better to hold the tenant to measureable specific fuel sales goals that are spelled out in the agreement when considering any rent discounts.
As with hangar lease agreements, office lease agreements are a sublease and must conform to the master lease agreement your FBO has with the airport authority. Signatories to office subleases do have a right to know the contents of your master lease because they must also comply with its contents. In addition, terms for rate increases in your subleases should be similar to the master lease, and the term of subleases cannot be longer than the master lease term.
Please keep in mind that there are many factors and nuances to crafting an advantageous office lease agreement, and we will not be able to expound on all of them in the framework of a blog. Therefore, we encourage you to attend one of our FBO Success Seminars where we spend additional time discussing these important topics as well as others.
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About the bloggers:
John Enticknap has more than 35 years of aviation fueling and FBO services industry experience. Ron Jackson is co-founder of Aviation Business Strategies Group and president of The Jackson Group, a PR agency specializing in FBO marketing and customer service training. Visit the biography page or absggroup.com for more background.