Before You Lease: Check Whether the Space Can Support Your Business

Test the business plan against the property

Before signing a lease, describe how the business will actually operate. List employees, visitors, equipment, operating hours, deliveries, storage and any activities that differ from a conventional office. Include foreseeable expansion and the minimum configuration needed to open. A description such as commercial use is too broad to support a reliable feasibility review.

Give the same program to the landlord, design team and permitting contacts. They need a consistent picture of the proposed operation. The goal is to discover whether the property can support it and what work that would require. Neither an attractive marketing brochure nor a previous tenant's business establishes approval for yours. If the project has special licensing or operational approvals, identify them as separate workstreams rather than expecting the building permit to cover everything.

Check land use and building occupancy separately

Ask the planning department whether the proposed activity is allowed at this address and whether a conditional use permit, often called a CUP, or another discretionary approval is needed. Bring the operating program, including hours, customer visits, storage and unusual processes. A landlord's permission to conduct an activity does not establish zoning approval. San Jose's planning guidance treats changes in land use or business operations as planning matters; confirm the process in the actual city or unincorporated county.

Separately, have the design professional compare the existing approved occupancy classification with the proposed operation. Building occupancy classification describes how the code treats the use and associated risks; it is not the same thing as a zoning designation. A use or occupancy change can require a broader review than moving partitions. San Jose expressly includes business-use or occupancy changes in its tenant-improvement process. Neither source establishes that every new tenant needs the same permit.

Request permit history, approved plans and occupancy records, then compare them with an authorized survey. Record discrepancies rather than labeling everything found on site approved. Put planning feasibility, occupancy classification and system capacity on separate lines in the lease decision brief. Each needs an identified reviewer and supporting answer. If an answer remains unresolved, ask the lease attorney how the agreement should address that uncertainty before rent and construction obligations become binding.

Sources: San Jose planning applications and appointments · San Jose tenant improvement permitting

Turn shell descriptions into delivery specifications

Terms such as warm shell, vanilla shell and move-in ready can conceal substantial differences. Replace the label with a component list: floor condition, walls, ceilings, restrooms, electrical service, mechanical equipment, utilities and fire-protection interfaces. Identify whether each item is existing, newly provided, excluded or subject to an allowance. Request the condition in which the tenant is expected to accept it.

Ask what happens if delivery falls short of the written description. The legal and brokerage team should address acceptance, correction and timing under the proposed agreement. The construction team can help describe observable conditions and inspection needs. It should not casually certify inaccessible systems or promise that a shell is ready for every use. A specific delivery schedule allows different properties to be compared without depending on inconsistent leasing terminology.

Review system capacity before room finishes

Have the appropriate professionals evaluate whether the proposed equipment and occupancy fit the existing systems. Electrical review should distinguish available service from apparent spare panel spaces. Mechanical review should consider new room boundaries, occupancy patterns and the landlord's operating schedule. Plumbing review should follow the proposed fixtures and accessible facilities rather than assuming that one existing restroom resolves every requirement.

The EPA's office guidance notes that changing how a space is used may require changes to air delivery. That is a reason to review the program, not a direction to purchase larger equipment immediately. Ask for a scoped assessment identifying retained equipment, required modifications and unknowns. Equipment age, records and access matter to the decision, but no single item substitutes for evaluating the intended operation in the actual building.

Sources: An Office Building Occupant’s Guide to Indoor Air Quality

Walk the route beyond the suite door

A tenant's visitors and employees reach the suite through a larger property. Review arrival points, common corridors, entrances and shared facilities with the accessibility professional. California Building Code Chapter 11B includes alteration-related path-of-travel obligations; the designer should determine the affected route and any applicable exception. Do not assume the lease boundary defines the accessibility scope. The separate accessibility article explains why a blanket 20% budget rule is unreliable.

Obtain permission to examine areas controlled by the landlord. Identify which proposed corrections require common-area construction, another tenant's cooperation or building-wide scheduling. These issues can affect feasibility even when the suite itself seems simple. The value of the review is not a premature declaration that the property complies. It is a documented set of conditions and responsible parties that the business can consider before committing to the location.

Sources: California DSA: access compliance reference materials, including the 2025 advisory manual

Use a conditional decision brief for one property

Imagine a hypothetical business planning appointment-based training in a former office. The tour confirms enough rooms, but the operating program also includes group demonstrations. Before ordering a layout, the tenant asks planning staff about the activity and the architect about building occupancy. These questions can change the decision even if the existing finishes are reusable and the proposed rent is attractive.

The brief records three possible outcomes: the intended operation is supported with defined alterations; a reduced program is feasible while another approval is pursued; or a material approval remains uncertain. For each, list what evidence is missing, the expense of obtaining it and the decision date. The owner can then decide whether the business still works under the feasible program. Do not assume that describing demonstrations as meetings resolves their classification or that a contractor can guarantee a discretionary approval.

Give the brief to the lease team to discuss appropriate delivery and approval conditions. Keep the physical investigation aligned with the business decision: there is little value in refining flooring quantities while a use question could stop the project. Conversely, a documented concern is not itself proof that the property is unsuitable. The purpose is to obtain the right answer before committing to the wrong scope.

Use investigation proportionately

Not every early property visit needs a full design package. Start with records, a business program and a coordinated walkthrough. Escalate to more detailed surveys or authorized investigation when a potential issue could change the lease decision. A concealed condition that affects a major system deserves a different level of attention than a finish selection that can wait.

Set limits around destructive investigation, access and restoration with the property owner. Ask the contractor and designers what information would most reduce uncertainty before paying for broad exploratory work. If an important condition cannot be verified, carry an explicit assumption, allowance or decision condition instead of burying it in a supposedly firm budget. The useful output is a ranked uncertainty list that distinguishes deal-changing questions from ordinary design development.

Make the next commitment smaller and better informed

Bring the feasibility findings to the lease team before final terms are settled. Possible responses include clarifying landlord work, changing the business layout, allowing time for approvals or selecting another suite. The correct response depends on the transaction; a construction checklist is not a substitute for legal review of lease conditions.

Finish with a short go-forward brief stating the proposed use, surveyed conditions, required design studies, unresolved approvals and budget assumptions. Assign an owner to every open question. If the project proceeds, give that same brief to bidders so the investigation survives into construction planning. A disciplined pre-lease review does not promise that nothing unexpected will be found. It makes the largest known uncertainties visible while the business still has meaningful choices.

Compare the choices

A decision table for this project