In this article, you'll learn:

• How extra charges like common area fees and load factors affect your rent.
• Differences between gross, rentable, and usable square footage.
• Strategies to manage and reduce load factor costs.
• How shared common spaces can provide cost savings and added value.

Rent isn't just rent. When you lease a commercial space, your rent pays for your commercial space, but you also make two additional payments -- even if it's all in the same check. One way or another, you also pay common area charges, which are the cost of running the building. In addition, you also pay a load factor, which is a way for the landlord to collect rent for the parts of the building that everyone shares. The hallway outside your suite? Yup. You're paying for it!