Commercial Rental Expenses
Hi guys. Civil Engineer here. Just started a new job with a design build contractor. Part of what we do is designing commercial core and shell spaces and fitouts and we broker deals with tenants. Typically 'Class A' type properties and high end commercial tenants.

I know the real estate basics but my background is more residential, so I am a bit out of my depth when it comes to these commercial spaces so maybe you kind folks can help me out.

My boss never gives me much info, but she has asked me to prepare a spreadsheet that we can use to show a potential tenant what their expenses will be if they rent one of our spaces in a particular building. Obviously i can build up the basic rent, service charges, basic utilities, Maybe even insurance etc but i feel like I am missing out on other expenses. Also, one of the catches is that I have to highlight the savings that will be passed on to the tenant from the solar electricity that we are generating from panels on the roof.

I guess what i am after is a little help on the content to make sure that I'm not missing anything important and a little help on the format so the tenant can understand what they are looking at!

Appreciate it guys.
[{"id": "chm96b4", "text": "If it is a triple net lease, you are missing the real estate taxes.\n\nCommon Area Maintenance charges span a whole list of things including janitorial, trash removal, common area utilities, and snow removal. These charges would be specified in a lease with the tenants.", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "chmeebj", "text": "try /r/commercialrealestate", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "chmh5vb", "text": "I'd ring up some of the previous tenants you've placed (or even better, call round in person), explain that your trying to make it easier for future clients to gauge their costs and would they be kind enough to share some data on their operating costs since moving into the space.\n\nExplain that the data will used totally anonymously and is just for a spreadsheet showing a rough breakdown of operating costs vs size of premises (or however you're planning on showing it).\n\n---\n\nThat way when you show a prospective client their estimated expense you won't be saying \"here's some estimated costs we made up\", but will be \"here's some real-world data based on previous clients in exactly the same industry as yourself\".", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "chmmg3f", "text": "Depends on the type of lease and the type of building. When you say \"commercial tenants,\" are you referring to office users? Industrial? Retail? Medical office?\n\nDepending on lease structures in the building, different uses will have different expenses:\n\n* Triple Net - Pro-rata share of taxes, CAM and insurance\n* Net-Net -  Pro-rata share of taxes and insurance\n* Net - Taxes\n* Modified Gross - Pro-rata share of any increases in expenses over a designated base year\n* Gross - Tenant only responsible for base rent and electricity/sometimes janitorial\n* Full Service - Tenant only responsible for base rent\n\nThese are always subject to change and can be different in each market. As a rule of thumb, always check the lease.\n\n", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "chn5tb5", "text": "Thanks guys, got it all sorted out. Are there any good resources in this subreddit or otherwise where I can read up a bit more on commercial leases or commercial real estate in general? \n\nTo answer u/westosterone26 we typically deal with office and retail tenants.", "replies": [], "depth": 1}]