WHAT INDUSTRIAL BUILDING TYPE IS BEST FOR MY BUSINESS?

There is a wide range of industrial spaces available for lease or purchase today, ranging from more recent storage warehouses intended primarily for high-piled storage to shorter flex buildings with a combination of warehouse and office space to clear span steel girder buildings for smaller and more customized operations.

HIGH PILED STORAGE WAREHOUSE

Typical precast concrete and steel high-piled storage warehouse.

These are warehouse spaces between 120,000 to 1,000,000 square feet that have been designed and built in the last 10 years to maximize high-piled racking storage capacity and constant movement of high quantities of products for e-commerce retailers. These provide spaces that range in clear heights from 32’ (intended for last mile operations) to 40’ (intended for distribution centers) and structural column spacing ranging from 52 feet to 60 feet.  These can have anywhere from 10 to 200 docks depending on the length of building and truck access locations and typically have one to four drive-in doors for maintenance. These shell buildings typically have accommodations for office space, plumbing and full space conditioning in limited locations, typically in one or two corners depending on the building length.

This is a good leasing option for large storage intensive operations at least 50,000 square feet that can take advantage of the high clear space and wide column spacing for maximum racking layout efficiency. This is however not a cost-effective leasing option for businesses that need storage for under 2,000 pallets, overhead support for fabrication equipment, or conditioned space needs greater than 10,000 square feet.

There are a limited number of speculative buildings of this size available today but there are a number of developers with approved development plans that could provide a new building in approximately 12-24 months depending on the amount of preliminary site work already completed to date. In this case, the fit-out design and construction can overlap and be coordinated with the shell construction to reduce fit-out work such as adding or removing dock doors and equipment, trenching for underslab plumbing, altering electrical switchgear and distribution system, relocating mechanical units or ductwork, relocating entrance doors and signage, and remediating floor finishes.Now that you’ve said hello to the world, it’s time to introduce yourself. Your first blog post is a chance to tell readers who you are with a short bio, as well as share what your blog is about and why you are blogging. You can include something personal or funny, or add a photo of yourself or your business. Give your readers an idea of what to expect in upcoming blog posts.

TRADITIONAL FLEX SPACE

Typical Flex Building with warehouse access and office entrance.

Flex buildings can range from 10,000 to 60,000 square feet and typically have 14 feet to 28 feet clear heights with columns spaced 35’ to 45’ apart.  These buildings typically have one to three docks per warehouse and sometimes a drive-in door and ramp.  Buildings in this category sometimes have a combination of high bay warehouse space and more traditional height office space which could be a good fit for operations that want to share fabrication and office space in the same building.

This is a good leasing option for companies that need less than 60,000 square feet total, storage for less than 2,000 pallets and require full space conditioning for over 10,000 square feet of the space. While the leasing rates may be lower for these spaces, there may be additional fit-out work and maintenance to deal with older infrastructure and previous tenant fit-outs.  Depending on the extent of renovation, some older building systems may have to be upgraded to comply with current building codes.

The availability for these types of spaces is much higher than warehouse spaces but finding one contiguous space or even all your necessary space in one building may be more difficult due to legacy lease subdivisions.  A due diligence property survey should be provided by an Architect to determine the anticipated level of work required to occupy an existing space before signing a lease.It might help to break up your introduction into 2 or 3 main points, so it’s easy for your readers to follow. Each paragraph or two should focus on one point.

CLEAR SPAN TRUSS GIRDER BUILDINGS

Typical steel truss girder (exposed here on the exterior) building.

These are typically clear span steel girder truss structures with typically with concrete block walls on the lower portion combined with metal wall and roof panels. These typically range in size from 20,000-50,000 square feet with column free interior spans of 50 to 120 feet and clear heights between 20 to 30 feet. There are few of these built on speculation and tend to be built-to-suit for ownership by smaller to mid-size companies. These are very cost-effective structures with endless options for the exterior wall materials for industrial to corporate office aesthetics.

SUMMARY

Even within each of these three general categories of industrial buildings, there is a wide variety of floor areas, heights and building designs that can match your particular needs. By engaging a good leasing agent and architect early in the process, currently available options can be thoroughly explored to find the best fit for your operation. See What is the Process to Lease a New Space? for more information on the process and schedule for determining your space program needs, leasing or purchasing the right building and construction for your new space.

Ryan Bruce, RA, LEED AP is a registered architect and Principal of Bruce Architecture with over 30 years of experience in the design and construction of commercial and industrial buildings across the United States. Most recently, Ryan has been involved in the design of large new construction warehouses for e-commerce as well as tenant fit-outs in smaller flex buildings.