Advice on how best to lease industrial space in Metro Atlanta area
Hello friends, wanted to pick the minds of some of the CRE brokers here, and particularly those of you who are familiar with the Metro Atlanta area. 

I am looking to lease some industrial warehouse space (5,000-8,000 sq. ft.) in the Metro ATL area, preferably in Gwinett County area, close the I-85. 

Most of what I have been seeing is very expensive. $6.50-$7.00 a sq ft. PLUS ~$1.50 OPEX. (So about $8.00/sq ft on avg) 

I have asked lots of brokers if the landlord would be willing to negotiate the rent if I pay 6 months rent in advance, or even a year. Most of them have laughed and said no. It's been a very "take or leave it" type mentality, and it seems that demand has outpaced supply. 

However, I still see some of the same places listed vacant and available to lease for 6-7 months.  

Ideally, I would like to find something around the $5-6 sq ft GROSS. Am I just dreaming and wasting my time? 

Will COVID bring these asking rents down in the next few months? 

Would it be better to try and find properties with a mom &amp; pop style owner, perhaps they are more willing to negotiate rather then the big boy REITS who have employed the likes of Foundry, Marcus &amp; Milchap, JLL, CBRE...I feel like those brokers don't reallycare to entertain any sort of rent negotiations. 

Just looking for some general feedback from yall. Thank you.
[{"id": "fs8cgm7", "text": "You could try a mom and pop.   The big boys don't want market rents to fall so they solve this by not accepting lower offers.  \n\nThe thing is, warehouse space is probably the one sector of cre that's going to actually go up in price due to more domestic manufacturing as well as more ecommerce.  \n\nGenerally people looking for 8000sqft warehouse need the space and will pay market rent.  There may be\n\n\\-\n\n some haggling over lease term or TI's but they expect and are willing to pay market rent.", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "fs8ekiq", "text": "LLs care about term rather than upfront sums of cash as term (along with occupancy) is what drives value. Quickest way to buy down your rate by giving the LL more security (term). \n\nIMO, hire a broker and let them chase. You\u2019ll have much better luck and there are a lot of very hungry tenant rep folks out there right now who just had 3 months of deal flow evaporate. Industrial is still largely a hot and growing market, so it may be some time before the deals start to show up. With the institutional guys in general, I\u2019ve always had the best luck at the end of the year as they are usually more focused on driving up occupancy than rate.", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "fs8q8tj", "text": "Industrial broker in ATL. Feel free to DM and we can chat.", "replies": [{"id": "fs8r3b7", "text": "DM sent", "replies": [], "depth": 2}, {"id": "ft45asf", "text": "I also sent you a dm regarding atl, Hope that is cool.", "replies": [], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "fs905d0", "text": "Try sublease space, have a feeling there may be some coming online. \n\nDepending on when you need to lease this space may determine what kind of deals you can get. \n\nCheck Craigslist or loopnet. You are a small fry sorry, brokers have their marching orders and will not work with out at all until things get desperate.", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "fs9rthg", "text": "There are some recent vacancies around the CNN building. Look for a property with a moderate amount of fire damage.  That's where the real Barton's are going to be", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "fs9upfb", "text": "Why would I care if you pay 6 months in advance?\n\nIf you want a deal, I agree that the term is where you want to do this.", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "fs9z92u", "text": "Market it on CREXI", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "fsslb5w", "text": "Industrial Broker. feel free to send a DM. Just finished a lease for a 3PL in ATL", "replies": [], "depth": 1}]