In commercial property, it is easy to compare options by rental per square metre.
On paper, one property may look cheaper than another.
But businesses do not only pay for square metres.
They pay for how well those square metres support the operation.
A lower rental can quickly lose its advantage if the space creates friction.
 
For an industrial tenant, that friction may sit in poor yard movement, loading delays, limited access, or inefficient stock flow.
For an office tenant, it may sit in parking frustration, staff accessibility, client experience, or a layout that no longer supports how the team works.
For a retail tenant, it may sit in visibility, customer movement, foot traffic alignment, or whether the space supports the buying journey.
 
These costs do not always appear neatly on a lease schedule.
But they can show up every day in lost time, reduced efficiency, staff frustration, customer inconvenience, or operational compromise.
 
This does not mean the more expensive property is always the better property.
It means the cheapest option should still be tested against the way the business actually operates.
 
The better question is not only:
“What is the rental?”
The better question is:
“What will this space cost the business once we start operating from it?”
 
Sometimes the real cost of a property is not found in the rental.
It is found in the friction the wrong space creates.
 
- Ashish Saniparsad