Today, Rofo reached a new milestone.  The 6,000th commercial space listing (for lease) in the Bay Area was added to the site. The 6,000th space is a 1,000 sqft retail space in Fremont.

With the market softening I expect that number to continue to rise at a good clip through the end of 2008 and into 2009 (many more subleases to be had).

Move in Checklist

The process could take 18 months or 2 weeks. The search process and completed lease should be completed 30 days prior to the move date. . Below is your game plan for the last 30 days:

Countdown Begins:

Days 30-14

• Make sure the necessary improvements do not need a permit from the local city building permit office. These timeframe can be 1 day to 6 weeks. Ask when you tour if any desired improvements will trigger the need for a permit and if so how long the current waiting period is.
• Finalize the lease document with help from a legal professional
• Call chosen internet provider to set up installation appointment. The lead time can be up to 4 weeks, so please call as soon as you identify your new address
• Select moving company
• Select wiring company
• Call furniture vendor to begin dialogue on options for furniture

Days 14- Move In

• Call stationary provider
• Update business license
• Prepare to update website
• Prepare to update phone messages
• Revise insurance policy (you will have to do this as part of the lease). If you don’t have a business insurance policy, it should take less then a week to process finding an insurance broker and getting a policy
• Figure out what equipment is no longer needed at current location and donate to charity or sell to equipment broker
• Notify bank for printing of new checks
• Call Phone company for installation of new phone lines if needed

I read one of the few silver lining stories today on the weakening US economy.  Reuters ran a story today about the commercial real estate leasing opportunities created by the fall out of many national retailers.  Starbucks was one of the bigger stories earlier in the year where they actually planned to shutter a bunch of stores.  That certainly does not bode well for the landlords – but that also really depends on the terms of lease.

The weakening overall retail demand has supposedly created opportunities for the Mom & Pops who typically compete and lose out to the chains.  This part makes sense.  The part that doesn’t make is that the weakening economy is likely having the same or similar impact on the Mom & Pops.  And when that happens these companies tend to retreat a little and refrain from making real estate commitments.  However, in soft markets you will see companies upgrade their space via subleases.

That all said, this company seems to be capitalizing…

I look forward to getting Rofo launched in that market so companies do not have to rely on calling on signs. .

We have to thank our friends at Officesnapshots.com who recently visited Rofo’s office to photograph our space. We have a sublease in which we’re sharing space with a couple of other internet companies. Beyond the typical benefits of subleasing office space – furniture, data and phone service, and shorter term flexibility – there are some softer benefits with many sublease/shared space arrangements. For us, we ended up in a large open area. This usually means more light and less of a claustrophobic space. Another benefit is the shared resources like conference rooms, a large break room and an employee lounge. Finally, if you’re lucky, you may end up in a space where you can exchange knowledge and ideas with another business/entrepreneur.

Rofo was picked up by Techcrunch this Monday. We were pleased with the story – not only the attention brought to our service but also their review of the site. . Here’s an excerpt:

The story generated some heated discussion about the value of a site like Rofo. As with anything, the value will always be influenced by your perspective. Our perspective, as former commercial real estate brokers and as entrepreneurs, is that there’s demand from all stakeholders to have a better way to connect the demand and supply.

server address . .

Ever wonder what it looks like inside the Facebook HQ? How about Flickr and Google? Maybe you haven’t. But the guys at Office Snapshots have assembled a great portfolio of tech company office spaces.

The Craigslist bathroom was probably the most original…

and then there’s the Google slide…I believe this is their San Francisco office which they now plan to occupy through 2015 according to the Business Times.

Let us know if you’ve seen better. .

We’re always looking out for the best and cheapest ways to improve an office space. The folks at Wetpaint.com have come come up with a top ten list (Top 10 Ways to Give Your Office a Web 2.0 Makeover) that, based on my calculations, would cost you about 1400 bucks.

I’m into the white boards – www.whiteboardsetc.com is a good source. Cheap, convenient and, like conference rooms, you can never have enough. .

If you’ve been through the move process you’ve undoubtedly asked this question and have looked at a few of these:

As an entrepreneur, and depending on your company, right-sizing your space will be an ongoing challenge. There are some general metrics used by brokers and larger companies that can be a helpful guideline. A common one is usable square feet per employee. The usable square feet vs. rentable square feet topic is a lengthy discussion and worthy of a separate entry.

Guy Kawasaki published a great article on Redfin detailing their startup costs and budget including their office space estimates:

Redfin Model: $250. Actual Redfin Cost (Last Month): $336

Our actual costs are high because we just moved last month into an office with room to grow, which seems to happen every eighteen months. When people were sitting in hallways at the old space, we were paying about $200 per employee, per month. Class B space on well-traveled mass transit lines is roughly $20 per square foot per year in Seattle, $30 in the Bay Area. You need 165-200 square feet per person or more.

At the extremes, Adobe supposedly allocates 435 square feet per person while Yahoo! allocates 220 square feet per person. The startup cult of cramming people into small spaces is counter-productive: people are what’s really expensive, not space. web archive The cost Redfin really didn’t anticipate was for tenant improvements which you mostly have to fund yourself when signing sub-three-year leases. In September, we spent more than $100,000 to add private offices for our engineers on the hope that our current office will last us longer. It was probably too much money.

If you’ve come across any other stats or tricks for planning your current and on-going space needs please let me know. Our Q&A section at www.rofo.com is always a good place to check for other ideas and resources.

As a startup (read small user of office space with a budget) it was a challenge to find good office space. We find it an even bigger challenge to manage our ongoing space needs. I’ve spent a lot of time talking to other entrepreneurs and found that most everyone struggled with the same process. I came across a great blog entry Xobni’s office space from the guys at Xobni detailing their search for space, their criteria and recommendations, and the lessons learned. I don’t think their overall process was unique. But they’re very unique to have documented and shared it. This is a huge value add for anyone just beginning their search. I’m always interested in hearing more stories to share with our readers. If you have one let us know.