How Much Office Space Does a Business Need?

Business owners have a lot of decisions to make when looking for new office space, but one of the most important is the size of the space. It’s essential to choose an appropriately sized office space that can comfortably fit all your employees and even allow for growth.

Cervelli Real Estate & Property Management is a full-service real estate company providing brokerage, property management, and consulting services throughout the “gold coast” of New Jersey. We can help you determine the appropriate amount of office space for your business and assist you with your property search. Here, we discuss guidelines for calculating the proper amount of office space.

Factors to Consider

The size of the office space you choose for your business is of utmost importance. This is because if you lease a space that’s too small, you can inhibit your growth. And if you lease a space that’s too big, you can struggle with unnecessary costs. Properly estimating your office space needs now can save you headaches and money over time. Important factors to consider include:

Number of Employees

One of the main factors to consider when calculating your appropriate office space size is the number of employees you currently have. This is necessary to determine the square footage that can comfortably fit all your employees. According to Zippia, the average office space per employee in the U.S. is between 150 and 175 square feet.

This will vary depending on the industry of your business, the layout of the building, and whether your employees work remotely, solely in the office, or with a hybrid model. However, this is a general guideline for planning enough office space so employees can work comfortably and productively.

Preferred Layout

Another factor to consider when deciding on an office space is what you want the layout of your office to look like. Three main options require different square footage, including:

• Open offices: Open offices have no private offices but rather large open spaces where all employees sit and work together, usually at community tables or clusters of desks. Open offices are considered high-density spaces and typically require lower square footage than other types, around 80 to 150 square feet per employee.
• Traditional offices: Traditional offices consist of separate rooms for each employee, as well as conference rooms and other meeting rooms. These are low-density layouts and require more square footage than open office spaces, between 250 and 500 square feet per employee.
• Combination offices: Combination offices consist of a mix of private rooms, communal areas, and sectioned spaces like cubicles. They have an average density and require somewhere near the average of 150 to 250 square feet per employee.

It’s also important to add square footage for common areas that you may want to include, like reception or waiting areas, conference rooms, and break rooms.

Future Growth

Another aspect that must be considered when deciding on office square footage is the expected growth of your business. If you choose a property with too little space to accommodate more employees as you grow, you can handicap your business’s success and even have to terminate a lease early, wasting resources.

Look at how your company has been growing and think about whether you plan to hire more employees. When accounting for future growth, the general recommendation is to add 10 to 20 percent onto the total square footage you already calculated for your current employees. This helps you have room to grow without any costly interruptions.

At Cervelli Real Estate & Property Management, our team has vast experience in managing retail spaces and office buildings, marketing them to prospective clients, and consulting on properties. This allows us to help your business find the perfect property with the right amount of square footage.

Find Your Next Office Space in NJ

If you’re a business owner looking for new office space, don’t make the mistake of getting the wrong-sized property. Cervelli Real Estate & Property Management has years of experience managing buildings for others, including retail properties, office buildings, and apartments, as well as inspecting and consulting on properties. Contact us today to get started on finding your next office space in the Gold Coast of New Jersey.