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Leasing · Retail · Office · Fit-out Scroll Retail, office and the lease behind it
A flat illustration of a tall office building rising against a pale sky with a few simple clouds Cover story — Leasing — 8 min read What a ten-year lease really costs Read the cover story The rate on the listing is the smallest number in the deal, and a decade of additional rent, fit-out and exit costs can roughly double it.

We read the lease so you sign smarter

One long read a week on commercial space, a handful of practical guides in between. Written for tenants by people who have negotiated, fitted out and moved out of more units than they care to count.

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Featured — Proptech — 5 min read The building that knows when you are in Occupancy sensors, smart badges and building dashboards are moving into ordinary offices, and tenants should know what they are agreeing to. By Tessa Lindgren. Read the story ↗

Latest stories

All stories ↗
roof truss, bar, wood, architecture Fit-out How to Schedule and Bid a Tenant Fit-Out as Contractor Backlog Reaches 8.7 Months ABC's September survey shows contractors with 8.7 months of work. Here is how a tenant can plan, bid and protect the schedule. By Colm Brady — 8 min pencil, notebook, crumpled, paper Leasing Personal Guarantees in a Small Business Lease: What a Good Guy Guaranty Ruling Means for Tenants New York's top court held that a good guy guarantor's liability ended when the tenant vacated. Here is how to negotiate and protect yourself. By Maya Ferrante — 7 min office, classroom, office space, copy space Leasing Flex Office vs. a Traditional Lease in Late 2026: What 10 Desks Really Cost a Small Business Flex is now 3.1% of U.S. office stock and private desks average about $687 a month for small teams. Here is how the math compares with a lease. By Omar Saleh — 8 min construction, building construction, helmet, architecture Fit-out How to Protect a Tenant Build-Out Budget as Construction Input Prices Rise 11.2% Construction input prices were up 11.2% from a year earlier in September 2026. Here is how a tenant can lock quotes, cap escalation and size contingency before signing a build-out contract. By Colm Brady — 7 min steel shelf, industrial hall, warehouse, building Leasing Industrial Vacancy Is Near 6.5%: How a Small Business Should Lease Warehouse or Flex Space Industrial leasing hit its strongest quarter since 2022 in Q3 2026, with vacancy at 6.4% to 6.8% depending on the broker. Here is what that means for a small tenant, in numbers. By Omar Saleh — 7 min ceiling lamp, lamp, bulbs, interior design Fit-out Building Performance Standards in 2026 and 2027: What Commercial Tenants Should Check in a Lease and Fit-Out Energy and emissions rules for large buildings hit deadlines from D.C. to Washington State and New Orleans. The owner is fined, but tenants often end up paying through the lease and the fit-out. By Colm Brady — 8 min apparel, boutique, bags, shoes Leasing Retail Vacancy Falls to 4.3%: How a Small Retailer Should Lease in a Tight Market Colliers says national retail vacancy sits near record lows, yet small-shop demand is uneven. Here is how a small retailer or restaurant should shop for space, read the lease and avoid overpaying. By Omar Saleh — 7 min house, building, facade, architecture Leasing Office Vacancy Falls to 18.2%: How a Small Business Should Negotiate a Lease Now CBRE's Q3 2026 data shows prime space tightening while overall vacancy stays high. Here is where a small tenant still has leverage, and where it does not. By Omar Saleh — 7 min demolition, excavator, housebuilding, construction site Fit-out How to Budget an Office Fit-Out in 2026 as Costs Near $300 a Square Foot JLL says North American fit-out costs now average $295 per square foot and warns against waiting for prices to fall. Here is how a small tenant builds a realistic budget. By Colm Brady — 7 min people, business, meeting, business meeting Leasing Tenant rep broker fees: who pays and how much The landlord usually writes the check, but the commission is built into your rent. Here is how it is calculated and what to put in writing. By Omar Saleh — 7 min architecture, building, glass, modern Fit-out How to deduct fit-out costs in 2026 Interior build-out work can usually be written off in year one under the restored 100% bonus depreciation. Exterior work and landlord-funded work cannot. By Colm Brady — 7 min A flat illustration of a tidy desk with a clipboard checklist and a pen beside a laptop Office The office that shrank and got busier A firm gave up a third of its floor, spent the savings on the rooms people actually used, and found its office fuller than before. By Ruth Anand — 4 min A flat illustration of a small corner shopfront with a ladder, a toolbox and a paint roller outside Fit-out Six weeks to fit out a corner café The build took six weeks because the hard part, the drawings, approvals and orders, happened in the four months before anyone picked up a tool. By Colm Brady — 5 min A flat illustration of a row of narrow shopfronts with a small moving truck parked at the curb Retail The shop that moved three doors down A short move on the same street still meant two leases, one overlap month and a long list of things that had nothing to do with boxes. By June Whitaker — 5 min A flat illustration of two simple bar charts side by side, one labelled before and one labelled after Retail How to read a retail footfall report A landlord’s traffic numbers can help you price a unit, as long as you know how they were counted and turn them into sales you can test. By Devin Oakes — 4 min A flat illustration of an open laptop showing a simple grid of app tiles on its screen Office Who still signs flex-space deals Flexible offices cost more per desk than a conventional lease, and for a surprising range of tenants that premium is exactly the point. By Ruth Anand — 5 min A flat illustration of a building dashboard panel with rows of toggle switches, small gauges and a floor-plan grid Proptech The building that knows when you are in Occupancy sensors, smart badges and building dashboards are moving into ordinary offices, and tenants should know what they are agreeing to. By Tessa Lindgren — 5 min A flat illustration of a neat grid of rounded app icons showing a door, a calendar, a wrench, a document, a lightning bolt, a map pin and a chat bubble Proptech Seven kinds of proptech tenants actually use Skip the pitch decks: these are the property tools that small commercial tenants open more than once a month. By Tessa Lindgren — 4 min A flat illustration of a spreadsheet of numbers beside a task board with sticky notes in three columns Office Sublet or sit tight: the empty-desk problem When half your office sits empty most days, subletting looks like free money, but the lease decides how much of it you keep. By Ruth Anand — 5 min A flat illustration of a small shopping cart with a bold arrow curving upward and to the right above it Retail The pop-up that signed a five-year lease A candle maker went from a three-month holiday stall to a long-term storefront, and the leap was mostly about paperwork. By Devin Oakes — 4 min

( Sections )

Long reads (05)

roof truss, bar, wood, architecture 01 / 05 Fit-out How to Schedule and Bid a Tenant Fit-Out as Contractor Backlog Reaches 8.7 Months 29 Oct — 8 min office, classroom, office space, copy space 02 / 05 Leasing Flex Office vs. a Traditional Lease in Late 2026: What 10 Desks Really Cost a Small Business 29 Oct — 8 min ceiling lamp, lamp, bulbs, interior design 03 / 05 Fit-out Building Performance Standards in 2026 and 2027: What Commercial Tenants Should Check in a Lease and Fit-Out 28 Oct — 8 min wheelchair, vehicle, pavement, tile 04 / 05 Leasing ADA compliance in a commercial lease: who actually pays 23 Oct — 8 min A flat illustration of a tall office building rising against a pale sky with a few simple clouds 05 / 05 Leasing What a ten-year lease really costs 12 Oct — 8 min 28 stories in the archive The whole index →
Field guide How to Schedule and Bid a Tenant Fit-Out as Contractor Backlog Reaches 8.7 Months ABC's September survey shows contractors with 8.7 months of work. Here is how a tenant can plan, bid and protect the schedule.
Editor’s pick — 26 / 28 Office — 5 min

Sublet or sit tight: the empty-desk problem

When half your office sits empty most days, subletting looks like free money, but the lease decides how much of it you keep. By Ruth Anand.

Start here

Five to begin with
  1. A flat illustration of a tidy desk with a clipboard checklist and a pen beside a laptop Office — 4 min The office that shrank and got busier
  2. A flat illustration of a small corner shopfront with a ladder, a toolbox and a paint roller outside Fit-out — 5 min Six weeks to fit out a corner café
  3. A flat illustration of a balance scale holding three simple objects: a folded document, a calculator and a small key Leasing — 5 min In defence of the boring broker
  4. A flat illustration of a neat grid of rounded app icons showing a door, a calendar, a wrench, a document, a lightning bolt, a map pin and a chat bubble Proptech — 4 min Seven kinds of proptech tenants actually use
  5. A flat illustration of a pie chart divided into four slices for base rent, property taxes, insurance and maintenance Leasing — 4 min Gross, net and triple net leases, explained

The index (12)

  1. 01 How to Schedule and Bid a Tenant Fit-Out as Contractor Backlog Reaches 8.7 Months Fit-out Guide 8 min
  2. 02 Personal Guarantees in a Small Business Lease: What a Good Guy Guaranty Ruling Means for Tenants Leasing Explainer 7 min
  3. 03 Flex Office vs. a Traditional Lease in Late 2026: What 10 Desks Really Cost a Small Business Leasing Explainer 8 min
  4. 04 How to Protect a Tenant Build-Out Budget as Construction Input Prices Rise 11.2% Fit-out Guide 7 min
  5. 05 Industrial Vacancy Is Near 6.5%: How a Small Business Should Lease Warehouse or Flex Space Leasing Guide 7 min
  6. 06 Building Performance Standards in 2026 and 2027: What Commercial Tenants Should Check in a Lease and Fit-Out Fit-out Guide 8 min
  7. 07 Retail Vacancy Falls to 4.3%: How a Small Retailer Should Lease in a Tight Market Leasing Guide 7 min
  8. 08 Office Vacancy Falls to 18.2%: How a Small Business Should Negotiate a Lease Now Leasing Explainer 7 min
  9. 09 How to Budget an Office Fit-Out in 2026 as Costs Near $300 a Square Foot Fit-out Guide 7 min
  10. 10 Tenant rep broker fees: who pays and how much Leasing Explainer 7 min
  11. 11 Lease or buy: when an SBA 504 loan beats renting Leasing Explainer 7 min
  12. 12 How to deduct fit-out costs in 2026 Fit-out Guide 7 min
Fit-out — 29 Oct How to Schedule and Bid a Tenant Fit-Out as Contractor Backlog Reaches 8.7 Months By Colm Brady

( About New Club Cocoon )

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New Club Cocoon is an independent magazine about commercial property from the tenant’s side of the table: retail units, offices, the leases that bind them and the moves between them. No listings, no broker puff, just plain reporting on what the space costs, what the clauses mean and what to ask before you sign.

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