ONLINE TOOLKIT - Choyce Peterson creates online toolkit for commercial real estate tenants

August 3, 2009 – By Chris Miller, Staff Writer, Hudson Valley Business Journal

Commercial real estate brokerage and consulting firm Choyce Peterson announced a new program July 24 to educate clients and enhance their capabilities in the world of commercial real estate transactions. The tenant curriculum is equipped with online research tools, expert-negotiating guidance, and experienced advice on the entire real estate leasing process.

“We just saw a lot of due diligence that wasn’t happening for these tenants,” expressed Alan Peterson, principal of Choyce Peterson, about the launching of the company’s new program. “The genesis was more for renewing tenants that could use some help but didn’t want to use a broker, necessarily.”

Specifically designed to reduce the complexity of lease negotiations or space acquisitions, the main component of the program offers its clients’ a free online “tenant toolkit” on the company’s new website, www.choycepeterson.com.

“When people go to the site and review some of the tools, they will better understand the process to renew or relocate and then they have the option to contact us to really utilize our expertise,” explained Choyce Peterson principal John Hannigan.

Peterson said being a resource to the tenant community at large was a foundation for creating the website for tenants that choose to negotiate or renegotiate their own lease. Users of the website become informed with what information they need to research to make better decisions.

“Our free online toolkit is unmatched by other real estate organizations and can actually help companies at any point of their lease,” noted Peterson. “It does, uniformly, apply to renewing tenants and tenants that are looking for new space.”

After the clients familiarize themselves with the toolkit, Choyce Peterson pro vides professional advice based on current market conditions and the company’s extensive network of resources.

“It empowers tenants to make fully informed decisions on their own or contribute proactively when renewing or renegotiating,” Peterson said.

Since its inception in 1997, the company has negotiated millions of square feet of transactions spanning 42 states and parts of Canada. Choyce Peterson has provided comprehensive and creative real estate solutions for national clients such as Pepsi Bottling Group and Mercedes-Benz Credit Corp., as well as locally for Fairfield and Westchester County clients.

“For almost the entire twelve years we’ve been in existence, we’ve been a tenant representative firm. You don’t see us with signs marketing space representing landlords,” Peterson explained. This website arms tenants a little better than landlords would like to see.”

Online tenant program participants benefit from reports on available space, vacancy rates and average rents. A do-ityourself lease report card is made available or an abstract analysis of thirty key components of their current lease could be requested. An employee map to evaluate commuting considerations at a variety of locations could be created as well.

Newly informed clients are well positioned to commence negotiations on their own or to retain a commercial real estate brokerage firm to sift through the options and engage in complex negotiations with a building’s owner.

“There are some tools on the website that allows the users to create ‘what if’ situations,” Hannigan said. “They could print out their report and review the information with the executive team. They could return at the direction of the team to adjust some of the scenarios and see what that output is.”

In addition to lawyers and architects, the Choyce Peterson tenant program includes optional services from numerous outside experts such as structural design firms, HVAC engineers, and technology professionals.

Reprinted with permission of the Hudson Valley Business Journal.