New companies start and expand each day. When this happens, owners have to both find and furnish office spaces to accommodate employees. In fact, American companies annually purchase staggering amounts of office furnishings — 16.5 million chairs, 11 million filing cabinets, and 3 million desks, research shows. In 2014 alone, commercial office furniture accounted for $12.6 billion in revenue in the United States. While purchasing office cubicles and other modern office desks may not be hard, finding space in Nashville, Tennessee is.
According to Biz Journals, Nashville has “the lowest percentage of available office space among nearly 90 markets.” This recently shared data comes from real estate brokerage firm Cushman and Wakefield. As of June 30, just 5.5% of all office space in Middle Tennessee was available for rent. Just behind Nashville was New York City with 6.8% while Charleston and San Francisco tied with 7.3% of available office space.
When put into a perspective that more people can understand, this means that business owners and managers will have an easier time finding office space in New York or San Francisco rather than Nashville. Although the prices may be significantly higher in these cities, Nashville has had a recent spike in rent prices over the years. In the city’s downtown area, new top-end office space is a record high of $40 per square foot. With the cost of renting these buildings skyrocketing, owners of lower-rated buildings are also raising their prices as well.
What does it all mean?
For one thing, the surge in new and expanding businesses throughout the area means that the Nashville economy is growing rapidly and successfully. On the other hand, businesses that need to expand are finding it difficult to do so with the lack of real estate options. Many companies are forced to look outside the metropolitan area for office space, which means for a longer commute.
Solving the problem
As a solution, some businesses have implemented the use of modern office desks and office cubicles to maximize the space they have. Keeping in mind that employee productivity can increase up to 17% from simply providing the right seating, employers are using innovative work chairs to their advantage. Not only does implementing modern office cubicles and workstations allow for more space to be used, it saves money in the long run. Seeing as how space is already limited, these business owners are making the most of what they have.
