NOT BUSINESS AS USUAL
Things don’t change much in the CRE world. They haven’t needed to. Agency leasing takes care of the landlords and tenant reps take care of, well, you know…the tenants. But after the pandemic hit, we started to wonder: what would happen with all of the flexible space and third-party operators? So many companies following the success of WeWork thought they would try their luck, and we applauded them for their ability to adapt to demand and take advantage of the coworking collaboration promise. Collaboration, trendy workspaces and minimum commitments—with some users signing up for as little as single day usage, seemed like a good idea. But for coworking to be profitable for owners, the space needs significant occupancy. Once the pandemic arrived, many realized that the latest version of coworking might not be a sustainable business model across an entire economic cycle.
RAPID Evolution of Services
RapidOfficesTM (Rapid) is powered by Stream, a full-service commercial real estate (CRE) firm with nearly 1,000 employees working for owners, investors and occupiers. As a privately held firm, Stream is an adaptable and agile organization—allowing us to evolve our service lines to meet the opportunities and demands of the market.
Rapid is the brainchild of Ben Hautt, a Partner at Stream’s Atlanta office. It was developed to provide a solution for move-in ready space available in existing leasing assignments and to also help our landlord clients who find themselves with failed coworking operator spaces.
Rapid is an evolutionary service that meets the needs of tenants who require move-in ready office space quickly with the flexibility of a much shorter lease term, with no drawn-out negotiation period. Owners benefit from being able to quickly fill their vacant workspaces, whether they are spec suites or former coworking space, and both parties benefit from Rapid’s online short-form lease and ACH or credit card payment options. Rapid = Flexibility.
Rapid is an office leasing solution. But what is the leasing problem?
Ben notes that traditional office lease negotiations can be a long and strenuous negotiating process. That process is the normal course of business for many companies who can and do plan well into the future—companies who want to take their time with buildouts and branded workspace. But for tenants who require more than hotdesking and less than a 15-year lease, options were bleak. Traditional leasing offers security of tenure, but long leasing periods; that rigidity doesn’t work for everyone. Rapid was developed to offer an ideal alternative—a solution with the advantages of both traditional leasing and coworking—but without the pitfalls.
Applied Innovation
Rapid office leases can be as short as 12 months and as long as 10+ years, providing security of tenure, yet retaining flexibility for tenants.
- Available across the U.S.
- Proven in Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, San Diego, Washington, DC
- Leases as short as 12 months and as long as 10+ years
- Online tour, 10-page short-form lease, online payment, DocuSign, and zero attorney fees… Simple and Convenient
Prospective tenants can lease move-in ready former coworking or spec suites in as little as one day, compared with traditional leasing, which routinely takes months.
Rapid’s methodology is simple and innovative
- Listing is quick and simple using the online marketplace, RapidOffices.com
- Virtual tours are available 24 hours—convenient for everyone
- Tenants complete and submit Rapid’s uncomplicated short form lease online (minimizing time and eliminating costly legal fees)
- Online automated payments benefit both parties
- With lease durations as short as one-year, Rapid keeps things flexible—allowing both parties to create and adapt to changing business plans and growth in an evolving marketplace
“Carvana and Carmax have streamlined car buying, Amazon dominates the retail market and real estate has evolved too with residential sales and marketing platforms such as Redfin and Zillow. So why not CRE? We started to shape Rapid with this in mind.”
Ben Hautt | Rapid Founder & Partner | Stream Atlanta
Rapid is the fast, flexible and convenient office leasing solution the market has been waiting for.
Adaptation and Adoption
The office market is changing, business plans have been disrupted—so why be rigid when you can be flexible? Why move slowly, when you can be Rapid?
“Rapid is really another amenity for an owner’s building. From an agency leasing perspective, if we were leasing an entire building, traditional leasing and Rapid would not just coexist, they would be fully synergistic. By offering traditional space and a percentage of move-in ready space with Rapid—we can cover all market demand for office space.”
Preston Young | National Head of Office Investor Services
When presenting Rapid to owners, it is a different but complimentary offering to traditional leasing. The fact is tenants have differing requirements. The difference between offering a customizable shell space versus move-in ready spec suites is vast in terms of convenience and speed. With Rapid we only host move-in ready space, meaning people can just walk in and get to work within a couple of days of signing the lease. Rapid isn’t designed to replace traditional leasing but rather serve as a complement and catalyst to it. Rapid is designed to maximize our ability to meet another segment of demand—providing another leasing tool for brokers and owners.
Rapid is in four major markets to date and growing quickly because there is a need for a solution to tenant and owner demand.
Client Centricity
Rapid is powered by Stream, and as a full service CRE company, we are always looking to provide solutions in the market and benefit our clients. We’ve drawn on the experience of some of our team who officed in coworking for months and collaborated with clients on the agency and tenant rep side before finalizing Rapid’s services and business model. We took all of the sticking points that impact office leasing—from both perspectives—then went to work to develop solutions.
Institutional clients and established multi-nationals have different needs than businesses in growth mode, local businesses and start-ups. But in uncertain times (negative or positive), even in a bullish market some companies need more flexibility. If new products are being launched, new divisions established or when firms can’t be exact in estimating their size requirements, if they’re in a period of fast growth in a really good market they will prefer to commit to shorter-term space–and Rapid provides a protective hedge to what’s going on macroeconomically.
When it comes to office leasing, one size doesn’t fit all. Finally, there’s a smart, fast and convenient addition to the office leasing toolkit—and it’s called Rapid.
Contributors
Preston Young serves as National Head of Office Investor Services for Stream Realty Partners where he oversees the strategy and advancement of the firm’s national office portfolio. Preston leads Stream’s strategic efforts in recruiting talent, identifying new business opportunities and development of essential resources to achieve Stream’s growth initiatives.
Benjamin Hautt is the Co-Managing Partner of Stream’s Atlanta office and co-founder of the RapidOfficesTM online marketplace. Ben supports Rapid efforts nationally for Stream, including five assets in Atlanta.
Adam Showalter is a Managing Director in Stream’s greater Chicago office, where he sources business, uncovers and executes acquisition and development opportunities. Adam currently leases the 620 N. LaSalle which offers Rapid space marketplace spaces for lease.