To lease an office building before the refurbishment, you market the result, not the current state. Decide who you are targeting and the condition the floors will be delivered in, prepare two or three layout proposals and show them with plans, a brochure and a 3D recreation built from the plans. Share that material through the website, the listing and the brokers, and bring the 3D on a phone to site visits. Communicate dates with the certainty they really have, and always make clear what is a proposal and what is delivered.
This guide is for owners, asset managers and agencies with a building awaiting refurbishment who want to start marketing it now. If the works have already started, the guide on pre-leasing goes into what to show at each stage.
The steps, in order
- Define the target tenant and the delivery condition. What kind of company you are targeting, what floor area it needs and the condition the floor will be handed over in: shell, with services or fitted out. Everything else depends on it.
- Prepare two or three layout proposals. An empty floor is hard to picture. With several proposals, prospects compare how their team would fit without you investing in a specific fit-out yet.
- Put together a brochure with plans, floor areas and the works schedule. Plans per floor, areas, the intended specification, the delivery condition and the milestones of the works, in a document that can be forwarded.
- Show the result, and always say it is a recreation. A 3D viewer built from the plans, renders or a sample of the exterior let people see what does not exist yet. State on every piece that it is a recreation of the project.
- Publish the listing and the building website. A clear listing and a page of its own for the building, with the 3D embedded, the brochure and a contact, so the material travels without needing a meeting.
- Give brokers and agencies the full package. Whether you work with an international agency such as CBRE or JLL or with a local one, share the plans, the brochure and the 3D link so everyone shows the same thing.
- Bring the 3D on a phone to site visits. On the unrefurbished floor, prospects see on screen how the space they are standing in will look. Always follow the site safety rules.
- Communicate dates without promising what is not settled. Separate what is confirmed from what is estimated, talk in milestones rather than specific days and update the brochure and the website when something changes.
Define the tenant and the delivery condition
Before producing anything, decide who you are marketing the building to. A company looking for a full floor does not ask the same questions as one looking for a suite. The delivery condition matters just as much: if the floor is delivered as shell space, prospects need to understand what they will do and what you will do. Write it in one sentence and use it the same way in the brochure, the listing and the 3D.
Prepare two or three layout proposals
A layout proposal helps prospects answer their main question: whether their team fits and how they would work. Two or three variants of the same floor, for example with more open workstations or with more meeting rooms, cover different profiles without forcing you to decide the interior before you have a tenant.
A brochure that can be forwarded
Whoever receives the brochure usually forwards it to whoever decides. It has to make sense without explanations: plans per floor, areas, the intended specification, the delivery condition and the works schedule by milestones. Add a link or a QR code that opens the 3D on a phone.
Show the result, apart from what is delivered
A 360 tour needs the space to exist and be finished, so it does not help before the refurbishment. A 3D viewer is built from the plans and shows the building, its refurbished floors, empty or furnished, and several layouts on the same link. Renders work for one specific view. Whatever the format, keep what is part of the delivery apart from what is a proposal.
One sentence avoids misunderstandings
“3D recreation based on the project drawings. Furniture and layout are a proposal and are not part of the delivery.”
Listing, building website and brokers
Embed the 3D in the property listing and on the building website, next to the plans and the contact. Give brokers and agencies the same package: plans, brochure, the 3D link and the sentence that separates proposal from delivery. That way everyone shows the same thing and nobody promises a finish that has not been decided.
Site visits with the 3D on a phone
On a visit to an unrefurbished building, prospects see what is there today. With the 3D open on a phone, they can find their place on the floor and see how that same space will look, in the layout they care about. Afterwards they can open the link again and show it to their team.
How to communicate dates
- Separate what is confirmed from what is estimated, and say so.
- Talk in milestones of the works rather than specific days.
- Update the brochure, the listing and the website when the schedule changes, so different dates do not circulate.
- Whatever you agree with the tenant about the delivery date, put it in writing in the lease.
What Visedra does in this process
Visedra is a Madrid studio that turns floor plans of offices and buildings into interactive 3D visualizations. From the plans, even project drawings, we build the building with its surroundings and its refurbished floors, empty or furnished, with several layouts on the same link. It opens in the browser on a phone or a computer, with nothing to install. The examples on this site are concept demos designed by Visedra.
Before you order anything
If you own the building or hold the leasing mandate, we prepare a free sample of its exterior in 3D with its surroundings, on a private link.
Frequently asked questions
Can you lease an office building before refurbishing it?
Yes. It is marketed with plans, layout proposals, a brochure and a recreation of the result, making clear what is a proposal and what is delivered.
What do I show if there is nothing to photograph yet?
The result, recreated from the plans: a 3D viewer of the building and its floors, renders of specific views or a sample of the exterior, always stating that it is a recreation.
Does a 360 tour work before the refurbishment?
Not to show the result: a 360 tour photographs the space as it is. Before the refurbishment it would show the works or the current state.
How do I communicate the dates of the works?
By separating what is confirmed from what is estimated, talking in milestones rather than specific days and updating the material when the schedule changes.
Leasing or selling an office or a building? We’ll tell you how we would show it.
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