California IDEX Practice Exam

A designer has determined that a client needs about 8000 s.f. of usable office space. The leasing agent for the building says that the rentable-usable ratio will be 1.25. Approximately how much area should the interior designer recommend that the client lease?

1. 6250 s.f.

2. 8000 s.f.

3. 10000 s.f.

4. 12500 s.f.

The correct answer is: 10000 s.f.

To determine the area that the client should lease, we need to apply the rentable-to-usable ratio provided by the leasing agent. A ratio of 1.25 means that for every square foot of usable space, there are 1.25 square feet of rentable space. If the client requires 8000 square feet of usable space, you can calculate the necessary leased space by multiplying the usable area by the rentable-to-usable ratio. This results in: 8000 s.f. (usable space) x 1.25 (rentable-to-usable ratio) = 10000 s.f. of rentable space. This approach ensures that the client secures enough total space to meet their usable requirements while accounting for the extra space typically included in rentable areas, such as common areas and facility maintenance. Therefore, recommending approximately 10,000 s.f. is the correct advice based on the provided ratio.