How far in advance should Portland tenants start a commercial lease site search?
Most tenants start their site search too late. By the time they realize the lease is expiring in six months, the best spaces are already spoken for, the timeline is compressed, and there is no leverage to negotiate meaningful concessions. The result is a rushed deal that favors the landlord.
A well-timed site search changes the entire dynamic. Starting early creates optionality, gives landlords a reason to compete, and allows enough runway for tours, proposals, negotiation, buildout, and move-in — without cutting corners at any stage.
Here is what that timeline actually looks like in the Portland metro market.
How Far Out Should a Tenant Start Looking
The answer depends on the size and complexity of the deal, but most commercial tenants in Portland should begin the process 12 to 18 months before their lease expires or before they need to be in new space.
For smaller tenants under 5,000 square feet, 9 to 12 months can work — provided there is adequate inventory in the target submarket. For larger users above 10,000 square feet, or for tenants requiring significant buildout, 18 to 24 months is more realistic. Build-to-suit projects can take even longer.
The critical mistake is assuming the search itself is the bottleneck. It is not. The bottleneck is everything that happens after a space is identified: proposal negotiation, lease drafting, permitting, construction, and move-in logistics. That sequence alone can consume six to nine months.
Month-by-Month Site Search Timeline
Here is a practical breakdown for an office tenant in Portland with a standard 12-to-18 month runway. The specifics vary by property type and deal size, but the general cadence applies to industrial and retail tenants as well.
Months 18 to 15: Define Requirements and Engage a Broker
The first step is not looking at space — it is getting clear on what the business actually needs. That means headcount projections, square footage range, target submarkets, parking requirements, budget parameters, and any non-negotiable building features.
This is also when to engage a tenant representative. A broker who knows the Portland market will pressure-test the requirements, flag mismatches between expectations and availability, and build an initial target list before a single tour is scheduled.
Months 15 to 12: Survey the Market and Tour Properties
With requirements defined, the broker runs a comprehensive market survey — pulling every option that fits across the target submarkets, including off-market and pre-market availability. In the Portland metro, this might span Downtown, the Pearl District, Central Eastside, Lloyd District, Lake Oswego, Kruse Way, 217 Corridor, or the Sunset Corridor depending on the tenant needs.
Tours are scheduled in concentrated rounds — typically two to four properties per session — to allow direct comparison. The goal is to narrow the field to three to five finalists.
Months 12 to 9: Solicit Proposals and Negotiate
This is where leverage gets built. The broker sends a formal request for proposal (RFP) to all finalist landlords simultaneously. Each landlord knows they are competing, and the proposals reflect that.
Proposals come back with base rent, free rent, tenant improvement allowance, escalation structure, term, and renewal options. The broker benchmarks these against recent comparable deals and pushes for revisions where the numbers fall short. Multiple rounds of counter-proposals are normal.
Months 9 to 6: Execute the Lease and Plan the Buildout
Once terms are agreed upon through a letter of intent, the lease document goes to legal review. In Portland, lease negotiation and drafting typically takes four to eight weeks for a standard office deal — longer if the landlord counsel is slow or if the tenant has complex requirements.
Simultaneously, the tenant architect and contractor begin space planning and permitting for the tenant improvement buildout. Permitting timelines vary by jurisdiction — the City of Portland, Beaverton, and unincorporated Washington County all have different review cycles.
Months 6 to 0: Build Out and Move In
Construction begins once permits are approved. A typical office buildout in Portland runs eight to sixteen weeks depending on scope — a basic refresh with paint and carpet is on the shorter end, while a full demolition and rebuild with new mechanical systems takes longer.
The final weeks involve furniture installation, IT infrastructure, signage, and the physical move. Smart tenants schedule a buffer of two to four weeks between substantial completion and the actual move date.
What Happens When Tenants Start Too Late
When the timeline compresses below six months, several things break down. There is no time to run a competitive process, which means the landlord sets the terms. There is no room to negotiate meaningful TI allowances because the buildout schedule is already tight. And there is no fallback if the first-choice space falls through — the tenant is locked into whatever is available.
The financial impact is real. A tenant who skips the competitive process and negotiates directly with a single landlord routinely leaves 10 to 20 percent on the table across the life of the lease. On a 5,000-square-foot office in Portland at $28 per square foot, that is $70,000 to $140,000 over a five-year term.
Renewals Require the Same Lead Time
Tenants who plan to stay in their current space often assume they do not need to start early. That is a mistake. A lease renewal negotiation without competing alternatives is not really a negotiation — it is an acceptance of whatever the landlord offers.
The strongest renewal outcomes happen when the tenant runs a parallel site search alongside the renewal discussion. The landlord knows the tenant has real options, and the concessions — rent reductions, additional TI dollars, flexible expansion rights — reflect that reality.
Even tenants who are 90 percent sure they want to stay should begin the process 12 to 15 months out to preserve their negotiating position.
Portland-Specific Timing Considerations
A few market factors affect timing for Portland tenants in particular:
Permitting: The City of Portland permitting process for commercial tenant improvements has improved in recent years but still runs longer than suburban jurisdictions. Build in extra time for Downtown, Pearl District, and Central Eastside projects.
Vacancy and competition: Portland office vacancy rate remains elevated compared to pre-pandemic levels, which gives tenants more leverage — but the best Class A spaces in prime submarkets still move quickly. Starting early ensures access to the full inventory, not just what is left over.
Seasonal patterns: Leasing activity in Portland tends to pick up in Q1 and Q2 as businesses finalize budgets and growth plans. Tenants who begin their search in Q3 or Q4 of the prior year often get ahead of the wave and have more negotiating power before competition heats up.
The Bottom Line
The best commercial lease deals in Portland are not won at the negotiating table — they are won twelve months earlier, when the tenant started the process with enough time to do it right. Define requirements early, hire a broker who knows the market, run a competitive process, and leave enough runway for negotiation and buildout.
If a lease expiration is approaching in the next 12 to 24 months, the time to start is now — not when the landlord sends the renewal notice.
Ready to map out a site search or evaluate renewal options? Start with a market survey and comparable deal analysis — they set the foundation for every decision that follows.