INTERIORS TEXT FROM THE WEEKENDER FRI 26TH JAN

You should all be recieving your Weekenders on a more regular basis now as the distribution has been reallocated. I have style and interiors pages in this Friday free sheet, yet I very rarely publish any of the stuff from that here.

So, here is a piece from the interiors/ property page I had last week. I did have a little rant, but hopefully it will start some sort of debate on this topic.

I hope you enjoy it....or read it!!



FORGET LOCATION...TRY NEGOTIATION

Relocation, relocation, relocation…when commercial rent becomes too much.

Commercial rents in the city centre are, quite frankly, ridiculous. Rents are high here because of location, they say. That’s a given, considering the state of most of the buildings. But what happens when you are not keeping an eye on the market, and business people realise that the location factor is slowly slipping away form the allure of renting there. Let’s all have a little think, for a moment, on the future of our city centre.

1. Landlords, who roam unregulated, hike up prices to multinational company level, but can’t provide the storage or access a multinational company would require.
There is also little, if any, car parking for loading or unloading, which means customers and businesses alike head for the industrial estates.
This makes location null and void for businesses who need space.

2. High Street is renowned for it’s good looks and charm, but most buildings have only one access point, which is the shop’s front door. This restriction alone stifles cheaper rents for offices or services that don’t require shop frontage , and stops the ground floor business from easing it’s expenses through subletting.

3. Location location etc, but businesses don’t close because you try to charge too much rent, they just take themselves elsewhere. In an age of new media, location isn’t everything.

4. I understand if a landlord must cover their own mortgage, but, unfortunately, rents covering the mortgage amount will soon be a thing of the past. There is a slow down coming to the property market, investors will be dumping a lot of their holdings in the Summer, so all of you landlords with places sitting empty and idle because your rents are too high now, just imagine how long they will be sitting empty when surrounded by a deluge of competing properties.

5.You may think that people should pay for the privilege of a nice location, and charge accordingly, but remember, that businesses also need to pay rates, wages, suppliers and service providers, and still make somewhat of a living.

6. Recognise the reason why people continue to rent in the city centre, footfall. When those feet are spread out amongst the new shopping centres, and driven out to sprawling industrial estates, then all you are left with is sentimentality, and a business who pays extraordinary rent for the reason of a sentimental location, will not be a tenant for very long. They will not be a business for very long.

7. I’m all for survival of the fittest, I don’t think we should mollycoddle and massage little businesses that are then unprepared for the real world, and fold quick sharp. Don’t think I’m here asking for leniency, and a little helping hand etc. What I’m saying is this, you can’t attract the big boys to play on High Street, Rose Inn Street, William Street, John Street, James Street, Kieran Street, any street in the city, so stop charging like you can. Let them go and pay the exact same money for a unit four times as big , modern and equipped as the one you are offering, half a mile outside the city. You need to recognise that your market is changing, and ask yourself, are you ready to negotiate?


The fact is, unless something is done soon to entice good, strong, long term businesses to our city centre,
before the new shopping centres or expanding estates do so, Kilkenny City Centre is going to become a ghost town. It’s not up to me to try and fix it, I’m just here to point it out to the people who can......

(A little note to businesses who wish to rent, you would never offer the asking price on a house for sale without negotiating, so why accept whatever the landlord wants without trying to work on the price. The new rule of property, forget location, try negotiation.)