That list included expansion flexibility, stable ownership and a lower occupancy cost.

Watch out for occupancy cost when you calculate the cost of employee.

What the organizations would receive from the plan are lower occupancy costs, with one year's free rent, among other concessions.

The 20-year deal would bring the average occupancy costs, including rent and utilities, for the first five years to just under $30 million a year.

What they did want to do was lower their occupancy costs.

"With everyone trying to cut occupancy costs, flex space is a competitive option for tenants," he said.

THE push to control occupancy costs has had an impact well beyond the real estate staff.

The average base rent is $7.80 a foot, while total occupancy costs are about $12 a foot.

To a large computer user, these factors are only part of the story of annual occupancy costs.

There's only so much occupancy cost that the national retail chains can support.