As a property manager, you want your commercial facility to have something special that draws people in and leaves them with a positive impression so they want to return.
It’s called the power of curb appeal, and the amped-up appearance you create can have a direct reflection on your business reputation and community impact in Northeast Ohio.
The best ways to do this are through enhancements that can help emphasize focal areas and entrances, create comfortable and functional meeting or gathering spaces, or incorporate seasonal changes that bring color and life to your facility throughout the year.
Landscape enhancements can improve your commercial property’s function and appeal. But what kind of ideas can best fit your site and what steps of the process are necessary to get the look you want?
Let’s talk about commercial property enhancements and ideas you can try, as well as steps you must take to get them done right.
3 Key Landscape Enhancement Ideas
When you’re adding landscape enhancements to your commercial property, you have to focus on specific ones that can help your property the most.
Consider these ideas when adding enhancements to your commercial space.
1. Increase Functionality
When you’re creating plans for adding landscaping enhancements to your commercial property, prioritizing functionality is important.
Enhancements that prioritize functionality help to create usable spaces on your site and also help solve specific problems you might have in your landscape.
If you manage a multi-family property, for instance, adding a walking trail creates a usable area that draws residents in and retains them because other places may not offer this amenity. People can use this space to get fresh air, walk their dogs, exercise, or enjoy the scenery.
An outdoor seating area at an office park or retail center is another example of a functional enhancement. It creates a space for employees to eat lunch or shoppers to rest or congregate, making them more enjoyable places to work or shop.
Enhancing a commercial property with functionality also comes in the form of fixing or solving landscape problems that can bring down your facility. Some examples of these include erosion or drainage issues. Improperly graded hillsides can cause mud and debris to seep into walkways or parking lots, creating slippery, messy conditions. Adding a retaining wall in this case or regrading the area properly could fix the issue and improve commercial property safety and aesthetics.
2. Give Your Property A Curb Appeal Boost
Landscape enhancements can also draw more people to your site by increasing value via curb appeal.
Areas to focus on here include entryways to the property, as well as building entrances, outdoor seating areas, and around signage. Doing this with colorful plants can bring beauty to your space. This is especially important if you’re located in a city environment where concrete dominates the area. Plants can block unwanted outside noises like traffic, delivery vehicles, or air-conditioning units. Water features and bring soothing sounds, blooming plants can bring color and pleasing aromas.
3. Improve Safety & Security
Any landscape enhancement you can add that can make people feel safer on your commercial site is also a worthy investment.
This means adding walkways that are well-designed and well-maintained so they don’t cause trips and falls.
It could also mean adding landscape lighting that ensures safe passage along walkways or to entryways at all hours of the day and night.
It could even mean incorporating stormwater management initiatives to ensure water flows properly and doesn’t create problems like standing water, freezing water, mosquito breeding stagnant pools, or other issues. There are many solutions that can be created to help these issues that would be specific to your site, such as french drains, rain gardens, or dry creek beds.
Understanding the Commercial Property Enhancement Process
Once you have your landscape enhancement idea, you’re probably pretty excited to get started.
Not so fast. There’s a process that needs to happen that includes proper planning and managing logistics to ensure the project is done right.
Here, we’ll review the necessary steps so you know how the process works.
Step 1: Account Manager Meeting
The first step in the landscape enhancement process involves meeting with your commercial account manager.
This is a great time for you to discuss your needs and further develop the idea for your project. This process starts the same no matter how small or big your project is or what it entails – everything from a new flower bed, retaining wall, or patio.
Step 2: Plan Development
Once your account manager compiles all of the information gathered for your project, he or she will begin developing a plan for your commercial property enhancement.
This could mean meeting with the landscape company’s in-house team of designers to draw up plans and creating an estimate that includes all of the materials and equipment needed, as well as documenting the time necessary to complete the finished project.
Step 3: Design and Estimate Review
Next, the account manager will meet with you a second time, sharing a detailed proposal and design plan for your commercial property enhancement.
This is your chance to make any changes or adjustments based on what you see in the proposed design and what your budget expectations are.
Once you review the materials and make changes, then you will sign your contract agreement.
Step 4: Scheduling
After signing your landscape enhancement contract, your account manager will schedule your project.
Scheduling usually happens three to four weeks out from contract signing, but this can be longer during those business spring months. This means if you want a project done by a certain time of year, you need to plan ahead for this process.
Step 5: Ordering Plants and Materials
Now it’s time to order plant materials and supplies we need to complete your commercial property enhancement project.
While we keep stock of some regularly used supplies like topsoil and mulch, most projects require orders of other materials. In most cases, Turfscape orders plants every one to two weeks for various projects, and then cares for them until they are ready for installation.
Any additional equipment we need to rent will be procured at this time as well.
Of course, Northeast Ohio weather can create some delays in the enhancement schedule. Turfscape will communicate that to clients to ensure they know if their schedule has been impacted in any way by weather.
Enhance Your Commercial Property With Turfscape
You want your commercial property to look great, and landscape enhancements can help make that happen.
We’re just as excited as you to get your project completed. Watching your ideas and plans come to life is the best part.
We hope this better understanding of the enhancement process helps you understand how you can turf your commercial property enhancement ideas into reality.
If you find yourself asking more questions, give Turfscape a call. We can do a thorough walk-through and provide ideas and solutions to your problems. Our landscape designers can come up with creative solutions to build designs that serve multiple purposes and look great at the same time.
We also strive to develop long-term plans to help you work within your budget so your facility can accomplish its goals.
We know you’re busy and your time is valuable. We can provide guidance, saving you any headaches along the way
Want a Northeast Ohio commercial property that has amazing and memorable landscaping and common areas? Request a proposal today. Together, we can help your grounds look amazing while also providing great areas for function and usability.
