(732) 333-6690 Schedule a Tour

10 Questions to Ask Before Leasing Office Space

Current image: 10 Questions to Ask Before Leasing Office Space

Before signing an office lease, do not limit your questions to “What is the rent?” and “When can we move in?”

The most important questions to ask before leasing office space cover the entire business commitment: how much usable space you are getting, what the office will actually cost, which expenses are included, who pays for improvements, whether your business can legally operate there, how the property functions day to day and what happens if your company grows, downsizes or eventually leaves.

A commercial office lease can create financial and operational obligations lasting several years. Issues such as rent, operating expenses, delivery condition, maintenance, insurance, assignment and subletting can materially affect the value of a deal.

Use these 10 questions before committing to a space.

10 Questions to Ask Before Leasing an Office

#QuestionWhat You Need to Learn
1How much office space do we actually need?Whether the suite fits your team efficiently
2What will this office really cost each month?Your true occupancy cost
3What exactly is included in the lease?Included vs. separately billed expenses
4How long is the lease, and how will rent change?Your long-term financial commitment
5Who pays for the build-out and improvements?Your move-in cost and timeline
6Can we legally operate our business here?Permitted use and occupancy requirements
7Who handles repairs, maintenance and building services?Day-to-day responsibilities
8Does the location and infrastructure work for our team?Commute, parking, access, power and connectivity
9What happens if our business grows, shrinks or needs to move?Flexibility and exit options
10What happens when the lease expires?Renewal, holdover and surrender obligations

A good-looking office should survive all 10 questions, not just the tour.

1. How Much Office Space Do We Actually Need?

Before comparing listings, calculate how much space your business genuinely requires.

Do not begin with:

“We have 20 employees, so show us an office for 20 people.”

Instead, consider:

A 20-person software company using mostly open workstations may need a very different office from a 20-person accounting firm requiring private offices and confidential meeting rooms.

Ask the landlord:

How large is the suite, how was that area measured, and what portion can our team actually occupy and use?

This matters because commercial office listings frequently refer to rentable area, while your workplace planning depends on the usable configuration of the suite.

BOMA’s 2024 Office Standard, ANSI/BOMA Z65.1-2024, is designed primarily to calculate rentable area for office buildings.

Do not evaluate a property from square footage alone.

Review the actual floor plan and determine whether your required desks, offices, meeting rooms and shared areas fit efficiently.

Red flag

You receive a square-footage figure, but nobody can clearly explain the measurement basis or show how your team will fit.

[Internal Link: How Much Office Space Does Your Business Really Need?]

2. What Will This Office Really Cost Each Month?

This may be the most important financial question in the article.

Do not ask only:

“What is the rent per square foot?”

Ask:

“What should we realistically expect to pay each month after all recurring occupancy charges?”

Depending on the lease, your actual office budget may involve more than base rent.

Calculate:

Monthly Base Rent
+ CAM / Operating Expenses, if applicable
+ Electricity and Other Utilities
+ Parking
+ Insurance
+ After-Hours HVAC
+ Other Recurring Building Charges
= Estimated Monthly Occupancy Cost

Then calculate one-time costs separately, including:

Also ask:

If a guaranty is required, understand whether it is full or limited and whether your obligations change during the lease.

Red flag

The conversation repeatedly returns to the advertised base rent without producing a clear estimate of total recurring occupancy cost.

[Internal Link: How Much Does Office Space Cost in Piscataway, NJ?]

3. What Exactly Is Included in the Lease?

Two offices can advertise the same rental rate and produce completely different monthly bills.

Commercial leases allocate building expenses differently. You may encounter terms such as:

But the label should never replace the expense breakdown.

Ask whether each of these is included or separately charged:

ExpenseIncluded?
Property taxesYes / No
Building insuranceYes / No
CAM / operating expensesYes / No
Suite electricityYes / No
WaterYes / No
Standard HVACYes / No
After-hours HVACYes / No
Janitorial serviceYes / No
ParkingYes / No
Internet / telecomYes / No

Then ask whether any included operating expenses can later increase through a base-year, expense-stop or other pass-through mechanism.

A better question than:

“Is this full service?”

is:

“Can you show me every recurring expense incorporated into the rent and every recurring expense billed separately?”

Red flag

The answer is simply:

“Pretty much everything is included.”

Get the details in writing.

[Internal Link: What Does a Full-Service Office Lease Actually Include?]

4. How Long Is the Lease, and How Will the Rent Change?

The first year’s asking rent does not tell you the full cost of a multi-year lease.

Ask:

What is the initial lease term?

One year?

Three years?

Five years?

Longer?

How does base rent increase?

The lease may use:

Can operating expenses increase separately?

Possibly.

A lease can contain both:

base-rent escalation

and:

operating-expense escalation

at the same time.

Before comparing properties, estimate the cost over the entire expected lease term, not merely Year 1.

Lease YearBase RentEstimated Additional ExpensesEstimated Total
Year 1$_____$_____$_____
Year 2$_____$_____$_____
Year 3$_____$_____$_____
Year 4$_____$_____$_____
Year 5$_____$_____$_____

Red flag

You know today’s rate but cannot explain how the amount could change during the lease.

5. Who Pays for the Build-Out and Improvements?

An office can have the right square footage and still require substantial work before your team can use it.

You may need:

Before signing, establish exactly what condition the landlord will deliver the premises in.

ABA commercial-leasing guidance recommends clearly defining delivery conditions, landlord work, required permits and commencement triggers rather than relying on vague promises or assumptions.

Ask:

A tenant-improvement allowance, or TI allowance, is generally a negotiated landlord contribution toward approved work in the leased space.

Get every important promise in writing

“We can probably add another conference room.”

is not the same as a documented landlord obligation.

If the improvement matters to your decision, it should appear in the appropriate lease or work-letter documentation.

Red flag

Critical improvements are promised during negotiations but disappear from the final documents.

6. Can We Legally Operate Our Business in This Space?

A physically suitable office is not automatically suitable for every business use.

Your intended operation may need to comply with:

ABA guidance on office-lease delivery also highlights legal compliance, permits and certificates of occupancy as important considerations when premises are delivered to a tenant.

Ask:

Does the lease’s permitted-use clause cover what our business actually does?

Also consider:

Do not rely only on a casual statement that your use “should be fine.”

Verify the requirements that apply to your particular business with the appropriate professionals or authorities.

Red flag

Your intended business activity has never been checked against the permitted-use language or applicable occupancy requirements.

7. Who Handles Repairs, Maintenance and Building Services?

Imagine the HVAC stops working six months after move-in.

Who arranges the repair?

More importantly:

Who pays?

Repair and maintenance obligations should be understood before signing. ABA commercial-leasing materials identify repair and maintenance responsibilities among the core subjects tenants need to evaluate.

Ask who is responsible for:

Then investigate how service works in practice:

Red flag

The lease gives your company responsibility for building systems you assumed the landlord maintained.

8. Does the Location and Infrastructure Work for Our Team Every Day?

A property can look convenient on a map and still create daily problems.

Evaluate it from the perspective of employees, visitors and actual business operations.

Commute

Where do employees live?

Test realistic peak-hour travel rather than relying only on mileage.

Parking

Ask:

Access

Can employees enter after normal business hours?

What about weekends?

How are visitors admitted?

Internet and Connectivity

Which providers serve the building?

Is fiber available?

Can your company maintain backup connectivity if required?

Power

For technology-heavy businesses, investigate electrical capacity and infrastructure rather than simply counting outlets.

Deliveries

If your business receives equipment or larger shipments, understand loading and delivery procedures.

An inexpensive lease can become operationally expensive if the building creates daily friction.

Red flag

The office works beautifully during a quiet afternoon tour, but nobody has investigated rush-hour access, parking, connectivity or after-hours operations.

9. What Happens If Our Business Grows, Shrinks or Needs to Move?

A lease should work with more than today’s headcount.

Your company may grow significantly before the term ends.

It may also downsize, relocate or restructure.

Ask whether the lease or property offers flexibility through mechanisms such as:

Expansion Rights

Can you lease additional space?

Are rights such as a right of first offer or right of first refusal available for certain nearby space?

Contraction Rights

Is there any negotiated mechanism for giving back part of the premises?

Assignment and Subletting

Can another company assume the lease?

Can you sublease all or part of the office?

What landlord approval is required?

This point deserves particular attention: assigning a lease does not necessarily release the original tenant from its obligations. ABA guidance notes that under a typical assignment, the original tenant often remains liable unless the agreement provides otherwise.

Early Termination

Is there a negotiated termination option?

If so:

Do not assume that an unwanted office can simply be subleased or abandoned later.

Red flag

Your business signs a long-term commitment while its entire exit strategy is:

“We’ll figure something out if we need to move.”

10. What Happens When the Lease Expires?

Most businesses focus heavily on moving into an office.

Understand how you eventually get out.

Renewal

Ask:

A contractual renewal option is different from a landlord informally saying renewal should be possible later.

Holdover

Ask what happens if your business remains after the lease expires.

Commercial leases may impose different or higher rent during a holdover period, so understand the provision before the lease begins.

Surrender Condition

Determine what the company must remove or restore before leaving.

Potential items can include:

Security Deposit

Ask when the deposit can be returned and which deductions are permitted.

Red flag

You understand exactly how the landlord must deliver the office to you but have never reviewed how you must return it.

Office Lease Comparison Worksheet

Once you have answers to all 10 questions, compare properties side by side.

ItemOffice AOffice B
Rentable SF__________
Approx. usable space__________
Monthly base rent$_____$_____
Operating expenses$_____$_____
Electricity$_____$_____
Parking$_____$_____
Other recurring costs$_____$_____
Estimated total monthly cost$_____$_____
Lease term__________
Annual rent increase__________
TI contribution$_____$_____
Expected move-in date__________
Expansion optionYes / NoYes / No
Assignment/sublettingYes / NoYes / No
Renewal optionYes / NoYes / No
After-hours accessYes / NoYes / No
Internet options verifiedYes / NoYes / No

The better office is not automatically the one with the lower headline rent.

Evaluate the combination of:

cost + functionality + location + flexibility + risk

Applying the Checklist at 15 Corporate Place South

15 Corporate Place South in Piscataway provides a practical example of how these questions can be applied to a real property.

Current LoopNet information checked in August 2026 describes the four-story property as offering move-in-ready and customizable office suites for professional and IT users. The listing also highlights surface parking, three elevators, shared loading docks, heavy power, advanced wiring and daytime and after-hours custodial service.

Certain currently listed suites are advertised at:

$15/SF/YR

The same listing displays:

$1.25/SF/month

which is simply the monthly equivalent of the $15 annual rate:

$15 ÷ 12 = $1.25/SF/month

It also states that the listed lease rate is plus a proportional share of electrical cost.

Therefore, a prospective tenant should not interpret $1.25/SF/month as a separate CAM charge on top of $15/SF/YR.

Instead, use the checklist:

Availability and pricing can change, so businesses should always review the property’s live availability and current leasing proposal instead of relying on an older suite count or price snapshot.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the most important questions to ask before leasing office space?

Ask about required square footage, total occupancy cost, included expenses, lease length, rent increases, build-out, permitted use, maintenance responsibilities, infrastructure, flexibility and end-of-lease obligations.

What costs should I ask about besides base rent?

Ask about operating expenses or CAM, electricity, utilities, parking, insurance, after-hours HVAC, telecom, rent escalations and any other recurring charges.

Should I ask whether the square footage is usable or rentable?

Yes. Confirm how the advertised area was measured and evaluate the actual floor plan to determine how much functional space your team receives.

What should I ask about office build-out?

Confirm what work will be completed, who pays for it, whether a TI allowance is available, who manages construction and what happens to rent commencement if delivery is delayed.

Should I ask about assignment and subletting before signing?

Yes. These rights can matter if your company relocates, downsizes or restructures. Also confirm whether an assignment actually releases your company from future lease liability.

Should a lawyer review an office lease?

Commercial leases can create substantial multi-year legal and financial obligations. A qualified commercial real estate attorney can review the specific rights and responsibilities contained in your proposed agreement.

Before You Sign: Evaluate the Lease, Not Just the Office

A successful office search is not only about finding an attractive suite.

Before committing, make sure you understand the property’s total cost, functional fit, lease obligations and flexibility over the full term.

If an issue materially affects your decision, get the answer before signing and make sure important negotiated obligations are reflected in the final documents.

Businesses evaluating office space in Piscataway can apply this checklist while reviewing current suites at 15 Corporate Place South, then confirm the exact pricing, inclusions and lease terms for the specific suite under consideration.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *