Commercial real estate is built and developed exclusively for business activities. Under it, the industrial property category is used for industrial activities where goods are manufactured and distributed.
Industrial real estate comes in different shapes and sizes to cater to diverse business types. Small industrial sites are single or double-storey buildings allotted for industrial use. They may have flexible interior space, with a mix of warehouse and office space.
Large industrial properties include medium to large warehouses and factories that are equipped for manufacturing activities and storage of goods. Even larger are the ‘big box’ industrial spaces which are mostly used as logistics and distribution centres for holding and distributing finished goods.
Properties under industrial real estate can be classified on the basis of the physical features of the building and how it is being purposed. Let us know more about the different types of Industrial real estate:
1. Warehouse distribution industrial properties make up more than half of the total capacity of industrial properties. They are mainly used for warehousing and distributing business inventory. In terms of space, warehouse properties range from 50,000 to hundreds of thousands of feet, usually in a single-storey structure. They have up to 60-foot high ceilings, as well as a number of loading docks, truck doors and wide parking spaces to accommodate semi-trailers. Their office spaces usually tend to be minimal.
2. Manufacturing industrial properties is the second largest category of industrial properties. These types of properties are designed to accommodate specialized equipment for large scale production of goods and materials. That is why, they have built-in infrastructure to support the heavy power and machinery requirements of their tenants. They have clear heights of at least 10 feet and loading docks for trucks. Manufacturing industrial properties are typically equipped with three-phase high capacity electric power as well as high capacity ventilation and exhaust systems.
3. The third category is Flex industrial properties. Flex properties are capable of accommodating a wide range of uses, typically more than one in a single facility, including office space, research and development, showroom retail sales, light manufacturing and even warehouse and distribution on small scale. Their configuration makes it easy for tenants to adjust the proportion of office to warehouse space in order to best suit their business needs.
4. With technology becoming more advanced, the telecommunications sector is rapidly growing and so is the demand for advanced telecommunications facilities. Due to high power requirements, these highly specialized industrial buildings are located close to major communications trunk lines and power supply capable of powering extensive computer servers and telecom switching equipment. Telecommunications facilities contain scores of heavy yet compact equipment, backup generators and specialized HVAC. So they usually have reinforced floor slabs to support a high floor load per square foot.
5. Multi-Tenant Industrial Properties are basically smaller facilities with more than one tenant. They are more suitable for small to mid-size businesses. They are able to cater to the growing needs of small and mid-sized service-oriented businesses that can “add-on” space if they need to, by incorporating space in the same building. These types of properties are fast catching up with other industrial property types in terms of demand.
For all relevant stakeholders, it is worth having a keen awareness of the features and typologies of industrial real estate before foraying into this field. New and upcoming businesses should get in touch with the best industrial real estate developer once they have decided on the space requirements specific to their business. A suitable industrial property is arguably the best starting point for kick-starting a flourishing business.
