How Tenant Reps Check Price per SF in Any Submarket

A landlord sends over a rate. Your client’s first question is whether it’s fair. The fastest way to answer is to see what comparable space nearby is asking per square foot right now.

Crexi’s lease marketplace lets you benchmark asking rent per SF across every active listing in an area, for free. This guide shows how to pull that range in a few minutes and use it before tours and in negotiation.

Why a local benchmark matters for tenant reps

Market reports give you a metro average. Your client is leasing in one corridor, one building class and one size range. A local benchmark does three things a metro number can’t:

• It sets expectations before tours. Clients who see the range early make faster decisions and fewer surprise objections.
• It flags outliers. A space priced at the top of the submarket range needs a reason: better condition, more TI, or a stronger location.
• It gives you leverage. A counter backed by what nearby space is asking is harder for a landlord rep to wave off than a number that just feels high.

Set up the search

A benchmark is only as good as the listings in it. Start narrow and match the requirement.

1. Search the exact area

Open lease search on Crexi and enter the city, ZIP or neighborhood your client is targeting. Then tighten the map to the blocks that matter. Rates can swing a lot from one corridor to the next, so a citywide view will blur the number you need.

2. Filter to comparable space

Set property type and a size range close to your client’s requirement. A 3,000 SF inline retail suite and a 20,000 SF anchor box shouldn’t sit in the same benchmark, and neither should flex and Class A office.

Read the numbers

Once the results match the requirement, three more steps turn a list of listings into a range you can use.

3. Read the asking rate per SF

Each lease listing shows its asking rent per SF. Scan the results for the low end, the high end and where most space clusters.

How to use it: Ignore the single highest and lowest listings if they’re clear outliers. The cluster in the middle is what most landlords in the area think the space is worth.

4. Match lease structures before comparing

Check whether each rate is NNN, gross or modified gross. A $22 NNN space and a $28 gross space can land at nearly the same occupancy cost once taxes, insurance and CAM are added.

How to use it: Group listings by lease type, or add estimated operating expenses to NNN rates so you compare total occupancy cost, not headline rent.

5. Use the range, not one number

Bring three numbers into the client conversation: the low, typical and high asking rate for comparable space.

How to use it: If the space your client likes sits at the top of the range, you know what to ask the landlord about: condition, TI allowance, free rent or term length.

Asking rates vs. signed deals

The listings you’re reading show what landlords are asking today. Signed leases often close below asking once concessions are included. Keep that in mind when you present the range:

• Treat asking rates as a ceiling. The typical asking rate is a starting point for negotiation, not the expected deal rate.
• Watch days on market. Space that has sat for months usually has more room to move than a fresh listing.
• Account for concessions. Free rent and TI can lower effective rent well below the face rate, even when the asking number doesn’t change.

Run it on every requirement

The search takes a few minutes and you can redo it for each new client, submarket or size range. Save the searches you use most so the benchmark is ready the next time a client asks whether a quote is in line.

The bottom line

A landlord’s quote is one number. A local range of asking rates for comparable space is the context your client needs to judge it. Build that range before tours and you negotiate from evidence.