I read two separate articles this week about the most and least expensive markets for office buildings. We are used to keeping expenses well below $10 per square foot for most of our buildings, even while we work to consistently improve and update them.
In both articles New York city ranked at the top of the heap in expenses per square foot. North of $20 per square foot in the big apple and $10-12 for comparable buildings in Dallas.
Not that it is easy to keep expenses for our portfolio down. We get a little break on property taxes compared to Dallas, but otherwise, we work at it. We negotiate electricity agreements, get better pricing on insurance by buying coverage on a portfolio level. And we competitively bid some service contracts every year, just to name a few of our efforts.
The payoff for us comes when one of our properties goes on the market. We get to show a prospective buyer financials that reflect our work and our strategy. Financials we can be proud of. We will just keep sparing those expenses.
