When office space sits empty for months, the first instinct is to cut the rent. Sometimes that’s the right call. But often the problem comes earlier, in how the space is shown. If prospects can’t read the floor plan, can’t picture themselves working there or can’t explain it to their team, a lower rent won’t fix it.
This guide suggests an order to check things in. It starts with what costs nothing and leaves 3D for last, because it only makes sense once the rest is right.
Start with the basics
- Rent against the market: compare it with similar offices listed nearby right now, per square foot and on the same basis, full service or NNN.
- Clear square footage: say whether it’s rentable or usable, and how much common area is loaded in.
- Availability: a specific move-in date helps more than “available”.
- Terms: who pays for the build-out, whether there’s free rent and what minimum term you’ll accept. If you don’t say, prospects assume the worst.
- Fast replies: if an inquiry takes days to answer, the prospect is already touring somewhere else.
What the listing usually lacks
Read the listing the way someone who doesn’t know the building would. It’s almost always missing one of these:
- A floor plan with dimensions. Without one, nobody knows whether their twenty desks fit.
- Photos of the whole floor, in daylight and without the previous tenant’s furniture.
- Photos of the entrance, the lobby and the restrooms, which are part of every tour even if the listing skips them.
- The facts every company asks for: ceiling height, HVAC, internet, parking and building hours.
Signs the problem is how it’s shown
| What happens | What it usually means | What to try |
|---|---|---|
| Plenty of tours, no second visits | The empty floor doesn’t help anyone picture working there. | Show it furnished, with a sample layout. |
| People ask how many desks fit | The floor plan doesn’t answer the question that matters. | A plan with the desks counted, or two layouts to compare. |
| They like it but “need to check internally” | Whoever decides wasn’t on the tour. | A link they can forward and open on a phone. |
| They tour it only to rule it out | The listing doesn’t make clear what’s there. | Photos of the current condition and a dimensioned plan. |
| The floor is irregular or has columns | It looks smaller or less usable than it is. | A layout that shows where the desks go. |
Where a 3D viewer fits
If the basics are right and the problem is that people can’t read the floor, a viewer can help. It’s built from the plans and a few photos, and prospects can:
- See it empty and furnished, with one switch.
- Compare two or three layouts on the same link.
- Walk through it at eye level.
- Forward the link to whoever decides, who opens it on a phone without installing anything.
What it won’t do: fix a rent above the market, a poor location or a listing without facts. It doesn’t replace the tour either. It helps people arrive knowing what they’ll find, and gives anyone who can’t come a clear idea of the space.
If a broker is leasing it for you
Ask what prospects are saying. It’s the most useful information you have, and often nobody writes it down:
- How many tours have there been, and how many prospects came back?
- Which concerns keep coming up: rent, size, condition, location?
- What gets sent before the tour, and what after?
- Who decides at the companies that toured it, and have they seen anything of the space?
Where to start this week
- Compare the rent with three or four similar offices nearby.
- Check the listing against the list above and add what’s missing, starting with a dimensioned floor plan.
- Take new photos if the current ones are dark or show furniture that’s gone.
- Write down the concerns from recent tours and see whether any of your material answers them.
- If the question is how the space works, try a layout in 3D before you touch the rent.
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.
Leasing or selling an office or a building? We’ll tell you how we would show it.
Send the listing