Commercial Property Classifications & Types of Office Spaces

Classification of Office Space

Office spaces have been classified into three classes based on the aesthetics, age, amenities, and other infrastructures that make up a building.

Class A Office Space

Class A office spaces are often brand new or properties that have been consistently improved or significantly renovated over time. Buildings under this category are usually of high quality, located in major cities, situated in choice areas, have the highest grade of anesthetics and architectural designs. They are often leased by big companies or conglomerates and rental rates are relatively high due to the high quality of the buildings.

Class B Office Space

Class B office spaces are almost as nice as class A office spaces except that they are usually older buildings that have been well maintained over the years. They are located in areas that used to be prime areas of the city as well as some parts of the current choice areas too, they tend to command average rental rates due to the average to above-average quality of the buildings.

Class C Office Space

Class C office spaces are older buildings (over 20 years old) with old designs, aesthetics, and general quality often located in the least favorable parts of the city. They are often sought after by start-up businesses, are relatively few, require extensive renovations or reconstruction, have the lowest rental rates, take the longest time to lease, and are often targeted as re-development opportunities.

Types of Office Space

There are a number of offices spaces classified according to their features. Some of them are:

Traditional Office Space

This is the most common type of office space and has been the ideal office space type for so many years. The common features of this office space are cubicles, conference rooms, a reception area, private offices, break rooms, and a mailroom. Traditional office spaces are often used by law firms, IT companies, financial institutions, and so on.

Creative Office Space

This type of office space is known for its open layout feature. Collaboration, transparency, easy flow of communication and creativity, unity, etc. are some of the main goals of creative spaces thus, the fewer cubicles and walls between departments. The common features found in creative spaces are wood floors, high and airy ceilings, large windows to let in natural light, kitchen and lounge for employees, and lesser private offices; they are often used by tech companies and start-ups.

Co-working Office Space

This is the most flexible type of office space often used by start-up companies, entrepreneurs, and freelancers in need of working environments with flexible rental terms. Co-working office spaces are usually several single small spaces housed in a building rented out to various individuals, thus all other features like meeting rooms, break areas, and desks are often shared by all tenants. However, rents are mostly on a monthly basis and offices are already furnished.

Executive Suite

The executive suite office space is a co-working space with a more professional outlook that offers a relatively low monthly rental rate. They are usually fully furnished, pre-wired for phone and internet services, have a common conference room, break room, a reception area with a receptionist, thereby giving it the perfect executive office layout and relieving tenants of planning stress.

Flex Space

Flex office spaces are usually sought after by businesses that require both an office space and a warehouse at the same place. Thus, the warehouse, reception area, meeting room, accounting department, and so on will all be under one roof with respective entrances to the main office and warehouse.

Originally published on September 17, 2021 by our good friends and colleagues at iOptimizeRealty. The original post can be found HERE.