REBNY cont.
RECOMMENDED METHOD OF FLOOR MEASUREMENT FOR STORES:
1. The rentable area of a store shall be computed by measuring from the building line in the case of street frontages, and from the inside surface of the outer building walls to the finished surface of the corridor side of the corridor partition and from the center of the partitions that separate the premises from adjoining rentable area.
2. No deductions shall be made for column and projections necessary to the building.
3. Rentable area of a store shall include all area within the outside walls, less the following, with their enclosing walls, if serving more than one tenant: building stairs, fire towers, elevator shafts, flues, vents, stacks, pipe shafts and vertical ducts.
4. The following area shall be included in rentable area, if such areas exclusively serve a store, together with their enclosing walls: private stairs, private elevators, toilets, air conditioning facilities, janitors’ closets, slop sinks, electrical closets and telephone closets. When air conditioning facilities serve more than one tenant area, they shall be apportioned in the same manner as that used for single tenancy floors.
5. Where a store fronts on a plaza or arcade which is intended for use by the general public and is not for the exclusive use of the store tenant, its customers, etc., the area of the plaza or arcade shall not be included in determining the rentable area of the store.
Many buildings have retail space on the first floor. These spaces are not measured the same as a regular office area, mainly in the fact that you can measure an exterior, uncovered space and count it as the stores Useable. This section is tricky because it is not always easy to find where the building line is, also referred to as the set back requirement.
Building Line (from Definitions): A line established by law or agreement usually parallel to a property line, beyond which a structure may not extend. This restriction generally does not apply to uncovered entrance platforms, terraces, and steps.
Typically, the building will be set back from the street and sidewalk. Each lot has a required setback from the street. Let us say this setback is 20 feet on the front, 7 feet from both sides and the back. The building is built 22 feet from the front, and 7 feet from the sides and back. This means that the store useable area can be calculated to include the extra 2 feet at the front of the building.
What they describe in No. 1 are two dimensions which will come together as one long dimension. You would measure from the building line to the exterior of the building, then add the wall thickness to that dimension to get from the building line to the inside surface of the outer wall. Then get the dimension from the inside surface of the outer wall to the demising/corridor wall. Depending on how the store is laid out, it can be either. If the store is adjacent to a corridor or another tenant, the rules of a Multi-tenant floor apply.
Number 2-4 are all the same as previous examples of Single and/or Multi-tenant floors.
Number 5 is very hard to gather a full understanding. While referring to stores which are in a plaza, arcade, square, or other large public gathering place that is not a street, it indicates that these areas are not exclusively used by the tenant or its customers and therefore cannot be measured. There are many examples of stores (restaurants) that are in a public plaza and have a roped off area for seating. One interpretation may say this should be considered Useable area because it roped off and exclusively used by tenant and customer while another interpretation may say it is still a plaza and cannot be counted. It is just a little too vague. This is where the building manager or owner may want to decide which interpretation is best for their purpose.
Areas also to be excluded from the store measurements are:
- Canopies and covered staging platforms;
- Unenclosed connecting links or area ways;
- Unenclosed exterior staircases or fire escapes.
VARIATIONS FROM ANSI/BOMA STANDARD
- Office buildings are measured to the outside surface;
- Corridor walls are part of the USF for the tenants
- No mention of how to actually measure corridors, i.e., minimum corridor, dead ends, and extensions;
- Stores are measured from the building lines;
- No mention of parking areas;
- Not using Main Building Function rooms as part of Building Common.
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