What is a Business Park?
Mary McMahon
Mary McMahon
A business park is a development set aside exclusively for the use of offices. Business parks are typically located in suburban areas because land tends to be less costly and building codes are less restrictive. In addition, this park will usually be positioned near a major roadway, to make it easy to access the development. In contrast with a business park, an industrial park focuses on promoting industry rather than offices.
The developers of a business park typically plan it out carefully, including landscaping, access roads, parking, and flexible-use office buildings. Companies can either lease space in the park or purchase buildings, depending on how the park is set up. In some cases, they may join an association when they take possession of a space in the park. Business park associations may have annual fees to cover ongoing landscaping, security, and basic maintenance costs, and they tend to have regular meetings as well; some associations may even elect officers with influence over operations in the park.
For companies, a business park is often a smart costing decision, because space in these parks tends to be very affordable, and it offers access to other offices which a company might want to network with. Several companies might decide to group together in one area to make themselves more appealing to potential customers as well. The spaces in a park are also extremely flexible, allowing businesses to expand easily if they need to.
The services in a business park vary widely. Some office buildings may be taken up by companies which are closed to the public, for example, while others offer services which do require public interaction, ranging from temp placement to proctored examinations. In some cases, a park may mix with light to medium industry, greatly increasing the diversity of businesses housed in the park.
In some regions, business parks are heavily criticized. Some critics believe that these dedicated areas can sap at the vitality of downtown areas by encouraging businesses to relocate, and they also create uneven development by developing previously unused land in suburban areas. This can encourage urban sprawl, which is undesired in some parts of the world. Businesses argue that these parks create a concentrated, affordable office district, and than when they are thoughtfully built, they can contribute to the communities that they are constructed in.
Mary McMahon
Ever since she began contributing to the site several years ago, Mary has embraced the exciting challenge of being a WiseGEEK researcher and writer. Mary has a liberal arts degree from Goddard College and spends her free time reading, cooking, and exploring the great outdoors.
Mary McMahon
Ever since she began contributing to the site several years ago, Mary has embraced the exciting challenge of being a WiseGEEK researcher and writer. Mary has a liberal arts degree from Goddard College and spends her free time reading, cooking, and exploring the great outdoors.
AS FEATURED ON:
AS FEATURED ON:
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![Busines parks may aid companies in networking.]()
By: pressmasterBusines parks may aid companies in networking. -
![Business parks are property developed exclusively for office buildings and businesses that serve people who work in them.]()
By: olgavolodinaBusiness parks are property developed exclusively for office buildings and businesses that serve people who work in them. -
![Some office park buildings are taken up by companies that are closed to the public.]()
By: PhotobankSome office park buildings are taken up by companies that are closed to the public.
Discussion Comments
I love the business park. They make my life so much more convenient because I don't have to go downtown whenever I need something. However, I will admit that some of these places tend to have a short life span, and they are eyesores when they begin to run down and there are only 5 occupied spaces and 15 vacant ones.
My biggest complaint with business parks is that they do not seem to take into consideration the views and concerns of the people who live in the communities where they are built. There should be some type of guideline as to what types of stores can be allowed in a particular business park.
You might be walking through one of these complexes and see the offices of an accountant, an insurance salesman and then a restaurant, a jewelry store and then an adult bookstore. Which one of these things does not belong?
This would be less obtrusive if there were not residential communities so close to the business parks.
The investors and managers of the business park where I opened the store front for my first business were great. I would just like to to corroborate what this article says about the business parks being open to helping the renters of the spaces.
When my business began to grow, I did not even have to mention to the manager that I might need more space in the future. We were talking one day and he told me he would gladly create more space for me by connecting my space with the office next door, which was unoccupied at the time.
Can you imagine what you would have to go through if you rented space in most down-town locations and needed to add space by knocking the wall out of an adjacent building? Business parks are designed and created for businesses, so they are more in tune with the needs of a business, and how those needs will change over the years.
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