Office and retail space for lease by owner, on MLS®

How to lease office or retail space by owner

Leasing your own office or retail space comes down to four things: a rent quoted the way tenants compare it, a clear description of the space and what's allowed in it, reach to tenants' agents, and a lawyer-reviewed lease. Here's the order to do it in:

1. Set the rent per square foot per year, net or gross, from what similar space nearby is asking.
2. Measure and describe the space: total area, the office and retail areas, washrooms, HVAC, signage, parking and the permitted uses under your zoning.
3. List it on MLS®. Choose Commercial for Sale or Commercial for Lease when you start your listing; a guided form asks TRREB's office or retail questions.
4. Show it and take offers to lease, usually on the OREA Agreement to Lease – Commercial, and have your lawyer review the lease before you sign.

Office vs Commercial Retail: picking the TRREB Type

On TRREB's form you pick the Type and then a Category from its list. You choose them yourself, based on how the space is zoned and used today, because the Type decides which questions follow: an office asks about elevators, retail about the retail area and parking. Most spaces fit one of these:

Pricing office space: per square foot, net or gross

Office and retail rents in Ontario are usually quoted per square foot per year, and TRREB asks how your price is quoted (net, gross or monthly) so tenants compare like with like. Check what similar space nearby is asking on realtor.ca or other listing sites before you set yours.

Net (Sq Ft Net) is the base rent; the tenant also pays its share of property taxes, maintenance and insurance, often called TMI or additional rent. State the current TMI estimate in the description. Gross (Sq Ft Gross) rolls those costs into one rent. A small suite can also be quoted as one amount per month.

As a check: 1,500 sq ft at $18 per sq ft net is $27,000 a year, or $2,250 a month, plus TMI. Put the yearly rate on the listing and work out the monthly amount for callers who ask.

What office and retail listings ask for

Besides the rent and its basis, TRREB requires a minimum and maximum lease term in months, the possession timing, the zoning, and the Total Area (mark it divisible if you can split it). The Current or Best Use comes from TRREB's list for your Category, so agents searching for, say, a medical office or a restaurant find you.

An Office listing asks about the elevator (none, public, freight, or both) and parking; a Commercial Retail listing asks for the retail area and the parking type (surface, plaza, street, underground and more). Industrial questions, such as shipping doors and rail, apply to industrial and some other Types; see the industrial and warehouse guide.

Retail space: frontage, signage and permitted use

Retail tenants decide quickly on the frontage, the foot and car traffic, the signage they'll be allowed and whether their use is permitted. Put those facts in the listing: the street frontage in feet, the pylon or fascia sign options, the parking count, and the uses your zoning allows (for example retail, restaurant, personal service or medical).

A restaurant or clinic may need ventilation, plumbing or accessibility work and a municipal permit, so say what's already in place. Tenants often make the offer conditional on that permit; a clear listing saves a showing that was never going to work.

Photos and a description that rents the space

Tenants judge office and retail space on light, frontage and layout, so photograph the storefront from the street, the main room from the entrance, washrooms, the kitchenette or back of house, and the parking. Add a floor plan if you have one. You can upload up to 40 photos.

In the description, lead with the size, the location and what's permitted, then what's included (fit-out, HVAC, signage rights, washrooms, storage) and who pays which costs. Leave out phone numbers and emails; the board rejects them, and every inquiry reaches you anyway.

Showings and offers to lease

Tenants' agents request showings through the showing system, and each request comes to you to confirm or move; inquiries from realtor.ca are forwarded to you. If the space is occupied, give showing instructions that respect the current tenant's notice rights under its lease.

Offers usually arrive on the OREA Agreement to Lease – Commercial, setting out the rent, term, deposit, permitted use, any free-rent period or landlord work, and conditions such as the tenant's financing or a municipal permit for its use. Compare offers on the total value over the term, not only the first year's rent, and have your lawyer review the agreement and the lease before you sign. The commission you offered is paid to the tenant's brokerage only if its agent brings the tenant who signs; how leasing commission is usually worked out is in commercial real estate commission in Ontario.

Is leasing office or retail space yourself right for you?

It suits owners with a suite, a storefront or a few plaza units who can answer calls during the day and show the space. Commercial leases fall under Ontario's Commercial Tenancies Act, not the residential rules, so the lease terms you agree are what count, and a lawyer's review matters more than with a home rental.

For a large office building or a plaza with many units turning over, a leasing agent or property manager may be worth the fee. More on leasing every kind of commercial space: list commercial property for lease.

Questions

What's included

• Your property on the MLS® System as a Commercial listing, through PropTx, which feeds TRREB and other Ontario boards
• Sent on to realtor.ca, where agents and their clients search commercial property
• The Type and Category you choose (Office, Commercial Retail, Industrial, Store W Apt/Office, Investment, Land, Farm) and the matching TRREB fields
• Up to 40 photos, your description, the price and the full property details
• Showing requests from tenants' agents sent straight to you, and realtor.ca inquiries forwarded to you
• Price, photo and detail changes while you're listed, plus the sold or leased update

Flat fee MLS® prices

Plus 13% HST on Ontario listings; no tax on Alberta listings. The monthly plan can be cancelled any time.

Recently listed by sellers like you

180 Greenly Road, Trent HillsMLS® #X13878966

4501 Upper Big Chute Road, SevernMLS® #S13877958

75 Stevenson Street North, GuelphMLS® #X13861006

18 Cromarty Avenue, HaldimandMLS® #X13850856

$325,0000 Bayview Drive, RR1 WoodlawnMLS® #X13849844

C-12 Southwell Drive, TorontoMLS® #C13849080

1354 County Road 2, Leeds and the Thousand IslandsMLS® #X13835392

$595,0001-86A Bernick Drive BarrieMLS® #S13835166

What sellers say