The guidance below provides helpful information when applying WELL Core to buildings leasing 100% of their space to a single tenant. WELL Core projects follow the WELL Core Guidance notes under each feature, which explain how features should be applied in a WELL Core building. Core buildings that are leased to a single tenant tend to lease 100% of their floor area and pass the operation and maintenance of the building to the tenant. This article explains how the WELL Core guidance can be applied in such instances.  

Please note that his guidance can only be used in the context of a WELL Core building leasing 100% of their space to a single tenant.

Earn operations-based WELL features in single-tenant projects

If the single tenant manages the ongoing operations and maintenance of the building, the WELL Core project owner can collaborate with the single tenant, who will provide relevant information for review. This includes the necessary operations schedules for the documentation review stage of the initial certification, as well as ongoing data reports for annual reporting and recertification.

While establishing a tenant lease agreement to drive improved health and well-being is a good practice, it does not guarantee the tenant is operating the building in accordance with WELL requirements. A tenant lease agreement cannot replace the required annotated documents for operational-based features. If the single tenant is not willing to collaborate, then the project owner should look for other optimizations to pursue.

At the initial certification, the project owner should submit all documentation, including operation schedules. If a single tenant takes over the operations and maintenance of the whole building, they should provide the ongoing data reports for the annual reporting in order to qualify for recertification three years after the initial certification.

Approaching "non-leased space" features in single-tenant WELL Core projects

WELL Core buildings that are leased to a single tenant typically lease 100% of the floor area and do not have any non-leased space. The below explains how to address features in the WELL Building Standard where the Core guidance refers to non-leased space. Please note that his guidance can only be used in the context of a WELL Core building leasing 100% of their space to a single tenant. 

For features that are applicable to non-leased spaces, the project may apply these features to the areas of developer completion instead. In this case, the areas of developer completion are defined as the areas within the project that have been fully constructed to fit-out level as part of the WELL Core construction contract, prior to tenant hand-over. Replacing non-leased spaces with the areas of developer completion needs to be consistent across all features. 

For example, a WELL Core project that is leasing its building to one single tenant (the lease contract covers 100% of the building floor area) is completing the construction fit-out of the reception, lift lobby and toilet core areas as part of the Core construction scope and prior to handing the building to the tenant. In this case, the reception, lift lobby and toilet core areas are the areas of developer completion and can be used to subsidize non-leased spaces for WELL Core feature scope. Only fully fitted-out spaces can be considered here. Areas where only certain elements have been built out (e.g. lighting or flooring) should not be considered within the areas of developer completion.

Verified by performance testing

Performance-based features apply either across the whole building or the non-leased spaces (see WELL Core guidance under each feature). These performance-based features must apply to at least 2.5% of the total project area. If the project is fully leased to a single tenant and there are not any non-leased spaces (i.e. there are no common areas and spaces under the control of the WELL Core owner under the lease agreement), the project needs to identify 2.5% of the floor area for testing. There are two options:

Option 1 - Substitute non-leased space with areas of developer completion

• If the Core project owner fully designs and constructs the interior as part of the WELL Core construction contract of a minimum of 2.5% of the floor area before handing the building to the tenant, performance testing for WELL can occur in the areas of developer completion. In this case, the areas of developer completion substitutes the non-leased space definition in the WELL Core guidance.

Option 2 – Conduct performance testing in tenant areas

• As an alternative to Option 1, WELL Core projects can also test in tenant areas. The team must identify 2.5% of the total floor area for testing. Testing in leased spaces in this case can take place before or after tenant occupancy.

Note: some optimizations specifically apply to the whole building and require testing in non-leased spaces and at least 10% of the leased spaces.

Verified by documentation

There are two options to approach documentation-based features for non-leased spaces in fully leased buildings:

Option 1 – Substitute non-leased space with areas of developer completion as described above

Option 2 – Declare that there is no non-leased space

• • If your project doesn't have any non-leased spaces, then preconditions tied to non-leased spaces are considered out of scope and will be marked as met. A project that claims no non-leased space and therefore automatically achieves the related preconditions cannot receive additional points for optimizations related to non-leased spaces.

Projects must choose between one of the options and apply this consistently to all features.

Additional point opportunities for single-tenant WELL Core projects

Some features allow WELL Core projects to earn additional points for applying the feature requirements in leased spaces (tenant areas) in addition to non-leased spaces. Projects that do not include direct staff and/or non-leased space within their scope may earn both the base point and the additional point by meeting the requirements outlined in the additional point opportunity. Further guidance on applicability and additional point-earning potential for WELL Core is provided in the digital standard. To view this guidance, be sure to select the “WELL Core” view in the digital standard.