Windows.
No. Not the PC operating systems thing. I’m the least technical person you know.
I mean the #highstreet shop front and upper floors type and why they can be important to tackling town and city centre vacancy.
Here’s how.
Whether that empty unit you’d like to let has enough window to be good for #retail…
Or as is often the case with ex-banks, there’s too much brick to make the building good for shops and we need think about other uses.
Are the windows attractive in style or shape and actually present as an asset to a new occupier.
And of course when they’re empty, there’s the negative impact on the look of your place if the glass is cracked or broken or littered with posters, and the opportunity to do something creative with vinyls or window-dressing to make them look better and increase your letting chances.
If you’re thinking about getting un- and under-used upper floors back into play – as we’re focusing on in an innovative project with Aberdeen Inspired along Union Street there – the windows can tell you much too.
Look up and get a sense of whether there’s a business or residential use on those floors or are there tell-tale signs of a vacancy with foliage growing out of them;
Are the windows heritage style and potentially an additional cost to get them right for a different use;
Will there be extra noise or heat insulation needed;
Is there a potential issue of being overlooked out of a taller neighbour property;
And back on the ground floor if you can only get upstairs currently via the shop, can you afford to take out some window frontage to create that crucial separate access…?
Just some examples but an illustration of why, tho we talk about location, size, condition, rent and rates as key factors in the chances of moving our empties forward, we maybe need think more about those windows.
