G Woodbury and Associates, Inc. 1.888.877.5749

One of your main concerns should be to keep your property, and your tenants, safe. Plus, your tenants want peace of mind, and you need to provide that however you can.

Most properties will have some sort of security feature in place, whether it’s key fobs, cameras or guards. But many property owners and managers opt for one or both of the first two, snubbing security guards in favor of saving money by just installing cameras, hoping they serve as a deterrent. However, there are advantages to hiring security guards.

“Nothing beats a live body,” says Gregory Carbone, IREM office sector advisor. “They are able to see things cameras don’t, and their decision-making is highly valuable.”

In order to determine your need for guards, consider your location and the requirements of the building and tenants, Carbone says. What type of tenants do you have: corporate, retail, office, industrial, other? What type of services or merchandise do they offer: publishing, manufacturing, jewelry?

Carbone has had retailers as tenants in the past, and he says they often employ both guards and a security system due to the amount of expensive merchandise that needs to be protected.

Your location is what matters next, not necessarily the type of structure, Carbone adds. For instance, most structures in an urban downtown area generally have some sort of security system or a guard on patrol, if not both, regardless if it’s an office or industrial building. Meanwhile, the further you get from that urban area, the less likely you are to need as stringent a security system.

Cost to You
You need to assess your existing security operations: Do you have a security system of sensors and alarms or means of access control? Already employ guards? Both? None of the above?

Your tenants want more security, according to a survey of certified property managers from the Institute of Real Estate Management (IREM). Three of the top five security measures most often requested by tenants may require a human presence to increase security (“Implementing or improving security officer service/escorting;” “More police patrolling/police contact;” and “Improved mailroom/parking security”). However, of the top five measures in place only No. 3 relates to human surveillance (“Security officers”). Something isn’t adding up.

Therefore, upon completing your cost-benefit analysis, if you’re still worried about the long-term cost of guards versus security systems, your leases can drive who pays for the security guards—you can write the costs into the lease, Carbone says. Even better for you, some larger, corporate tenants will provide their own security guards and systems, meaning no cost to the property manager or the other tenants in the building, he adds.