In addition to all the internal floored spaces gross area also includes:
- excavated basement area
- mezzanines
- penthouses
- attics
- garages
- enclosed porches
- inner or outer balconies (whether walled or not) if used for operational functions
- corridors (whether walled or not) if they are within the outside face lines of the building
Stairways, elevator shafts, and ducts are also included as gross area on each floor where they are located. Open areas such as parking lots, playing fields, courts, and light wells are excluded from gross area.
Gross lettable area, also known as gross leasable area (GLA) is the amount of floor space which is available for rent in a commercial property. Basically it is the actual square-unit of a building that may be leased or rented to tenants and is the area used to compute the lease or rental payments. GLA includes any basements, mezzanines, or upper floors and usually excludes common areas, elevator shafts, stairways, and space devoted to cooling, heating, or other equipment.
As an area for which rent is paid by tenants, GLA produces income for the owner of the property.
Gross Lettable Area (GLA) tenancy is applicable to properties such as:
- warehouses
- industrial buildings
- free standing supermarkets
- showrooms
Gross Lettable Area (GLA) is a measurement of the total occupiable floor space taken from the exterior wall surfaces and/or the mid-line of any shared walls. If there is any land attached to the property which can be used exclusively by the occupant/tenant, that is also taken into account in this calculation. This method is used for measuring commercial and industrial properties such as those mentioned above.
With regard to external building walls, measurement is taken from the dominant portion of the outside faces of walls of the building alignment. With inter-tenancy walls, partitions or common areas, measurement is taken from the centre line of the walls.
In buildings where there are multiple tenants, the following areas are excluded from each tenancy’s lettable area:
• stairs and escalators
• cupboards; including fire hose cupboards, telecommunication cupboards
• recessed doorways
• fire stairs
• toilets
• access ways
• lift shafts
• service areas including tea rooms
• plant/motor rooms
• smoke lobbies