Since 2008 We've Been Finding Industrial Space (Warehouse, Flex, Manufacturing...) For All Types Of Businesses and Uses
Lease, Rent Or Sale
Let Us Help Find Yours Too!
No Gimmicks. No Hassles*. Just Quality Brokerage Services!
(* Disclaimer: Okay, okay - Real Estate does tend to throw a few knucklers, but we'll get you through them.)
This page shows you all of the Articles and Links you requested. Assuming you have an account and are signed in, you will see a link to save the Article or Link to "Saved A&L" for later review. Once you do either, the Article or Link will be moved. You will need an account to use these features, and you must be signed in as well.
Why can’t this landlord just divide up the space in this warehouse to lease me exactly the amount and type of space I need? I know - it seems like a simple thing to do. And sometimes, it can be fairly simple. BUT, there are complications. This article is intended to discuss a fair subset of the issues complicating the divisibility of warehouses with various resources to share - or not to share.
In a ‘perfect world,’ one would be able to back a trailer up to a 4’ dock-high dock, or a 2’ semi-dock, open the doors and start loading or unloading. Of course, we don’t live in a perfect world (with or without quotes)…
In Commercial Real Estate leases, Common Area Maintenance, or CAM, refers to activities related to areas and items shared between tenants in a multi-tenant building or complex…
In Commercial Real Estate Leases, an Expense Cap typically refers to expenses that are passed along from the landlord to the tenant for Common Area Maintenance of a building…
In Commercial Real Estate, a Modified Industrial Lease involves modifications to the Industrial Gross Lease. The modifications can vary, but the tenant often pays for certain items contributing to a Multi-Tenant building’s Common Area Maintenance…
In Commercial Real Estate, there tends to be confusion regarding the difference between a Gross and a Net Lease - and variations of each…
A side load dock well allows for access to containers in a truck court with very limited depth…
Paved or Stabilized Yard has many uses. It can be used to store inventory - pipe and other items that can withstand the elements - as shown in the attached photo…
General warehousing does not typically require electrical service beyond that needed to operate an office area with HVAC and general warehouse lighting and light-duty electrical plugs…
Having access to rail siding (doors on rail cars are generally on the side - hence “rail siding” - see photo), which is actually serviced (meaning a rail provider will use the track…
Warehouse operations often involve high ceilings under which to conduct various types of business. Clear height is defined as the maximum height of objects a building can accommodate. Buildings sometimes have different areas that have different clear heights…
The very first and most important thing you must know about leasing or purchasing warehouse or other industrial space is whether or not you can avoid the process altogether! There are many avoidance strategies available, but you also shouldn’t delay just for the sake of delay since that isn’t always the correct strategy. There can be good reasons to wait, and good reasons to move forward. Let’s take a bit of time to cover some of those reasons in more detail.
There are many reasons why a business might feel the need to make a change. Some reason categories here include:
I’ll use these broad categories later to cover in a bit more detail information supporting a move.
Some factors argue against making a change. Some reason categories here include:
I’ll use these broad categories later to cover in a bit more detail information supporting staying in your current location.
Location affects many factors of your business. You could be attempting to position your business to improve your proximity to your existing or potential:
These are all specific to your company and are difficult to generalize, but can all be good reasons to make a change.
In this case, you have likely determined that your current space no longer matches your needs from a capacity perspective - either your business has grown beyond, or shrank below what your existing area will sustain. Either way, this can be a strong motivator to make a change.
Suitability can be the need for equipment that does not fit, is too heavy for, or required utilities not provided by your current building. You might need more loading docks, larger trucks, more maneuvering space, etc.
A common reason here is that your landlord has made one-too-many lease rate or capital improvement expense increases, and you believe you can do significantly better elsewhere.
Moving an existing business from one location to another is a significant expense - over and above your regular cost of doing business. A move will result in lease expenses from two buildings for a finite period. You can likely assume that you do not have resources not being utilized, so you must hire or contract temporary support to help you move. You will also be likely to need to spend to avoid business disruption (see below).
If you manufacture products, you will likely want to build an inventory buffer of these products before you move to avoid disrupting your customers. This type of disruption “insurance” can be difficult to implement depending upon the state of your manufacturing capacity, relationships to your customer, and your reasons for moving. Similar reasoning can apply regardless of the activities performed in your building.
As with any change, the relocation of your business will have an impact on your workforce. The implementation of disruption “insurance,” changes in their commute, or the requirement for employees to relocate are some examples.
Any change - e.g., moving from one building to another - creates risk for your customers. They have to be sure that the products you supply to them from location B are going to be equivalent to those you provided from location A. What if something goes wrong with your move and the disruption “insurance” you put in place is insufficient? What if your customer’s requirement for your product suddenly changes in the middle of your move, and you cannot meet that requirement?
If you have transitioned in your business from needing all grade-level to some dock-level loading, but your building has only grade-level access, then you should consider working with your landlord to add a dock-well on the property. Assuming you both believe you are a good tenant, there is a chance they will work with you if the property is suited. Adding a dock-well is one example of a property addition that can be a win-win between landlord and tenant.
One of the more common reasons for deciding to move involves some form of “output/square foot” calculation. This calculation probably indicates that you don’t have enough space to accommodate people, equipment, inventory, etc.. Hopefully, you made productivity and other assessments a large part of your decision process. There are many ways - apart from moving to a larger building - to address this issue. Some of these are:
There are other approaches to create more (or less) space. There are probably 10’s or 100’s of ways to describe these things based upon the terminology of the day.
We hope this has helped you think through your potential move. We’re not trying to say moving is a bad thing, but it can be expensive and disruptive. If you have been inspired and wish to explore this further, feel free to drop us a line with questions. Some consultants specialize in productivity improvement activities. Contacting a local university business management or operations engineering program can also sometimes bear fruit if you are willing the work with them. In any case, we wish you all the best of luck in your move - or not.
Locating and acquiring the perfect tract of land to develop can be quite challenging. An experienced developer and its real estate broker can conduct initial due diligence to help avoid costly issues. However, more in-depth inspections and research are necessary before finalizing a purchase…
A dock well is commonly used to provide dock-high truck loading for a grade-level warehouse. This photo illustrates one of the major advantages for dock wells - the straightforward ability to have both dock-high loading/unloading and grade level entry to the building…
We expect you’ve arrived here looking for useful information about Industrial & Flex warehouse space. That’s our “thing” and we take it very seriously. We’ve been in operation since 2008…
The Texas (and other State’s) Real Estate Commission (TREC) exists to implement the state laws established around the practice of Real Estate. The state decided at some point - I used to know the date - that consumers need to be protected from fraud and ignorance in the most consequential transactions in which some folks will ever be involved. TREC has come a long way in simplifying what it thinks the consumer needs to know.
They require a lot of things, but some of the most important center around setting up a relationship with a Real Estate professional. They want you to know that until you have an agreed upon relationship with your Broker, you can not assume that they work for you because by statute, they do not. This doesn’t mean that they are allowed to lie to you - just that their duty is to provide their client with the best possible information, and that until you are their client, you need to assume their client is someone else.
They do a much better job of explaining it than I do with their Consumer Protection Notice, which talks about where to file a complaint, what recovery options are available to you as a consumer, and how to get more information. Add to that their Information About Brokerage Services document, which explains in detail the professionals you will be working with, the minimum duties of these professionals to their client, and more detail about the different ways a given Brokerage can represent you in your Real Estate transaction. This information is critical to you and to your understanding about who to trust and what to share. TREC requires all Real Estate professionals in Texas to provide this information to you BEFORE they conduct substantive discussions with you about your Real Estate needs.
There is a good deal of useful information on the TREC Web Site. You can investigate the licensing status of anyone you are considering using as your Real Estate professional, including complaints lodged against them. Most of it is aimed at the Real Estate professional, so you might well consider it pretty dry reading (not that a Real Estate professional doesn’t…).
Every state has rules set out for this situation. I haven’t reviewed the regulations of any other state in detail, but it is my understanding that all states regulate these transactions to some, and probably to a similar degree.
Overview
Many (most?) in the business world have no real need to understand the ins and outs of commercial real estate property types until they experience a need to expand or contract their business. My goal here is to take you briefly through my experience, converting my business experience into an understanding of the Industrial & Flex warehouse market.
Did you know that your relationship with your real estate broker is fairly similar to your relationship with your attorney? To be sure, there are significant differences - but there are also significant similarities. Of course, we all hope not to have (too) much of a relationship with an attorney - at least when it comes around to legal “troubles.” To judge by current trends in the technology industry, many of us feel the same way about real estate brokers. Is it better to be “cagey” about committing to a real estate broker, or is it better to take the plunge and commit to one?
Both attorneys AND real estate brokers (and their agents) are tightly regulated by the states (maybe al statesl, but I certainly it’s the case in Texas where I live and believe it applies broadly). They are both expected to be fiduciaries. Attorneys can take upon themselves broad fiduciary responsibilities as defined between themselves and their clients. A real estate broker is generally limited to fiduciary responsibilities in the area of real estate with an extended obligation to only engage in types of real estate in which they are knowledgable. An example would be an agent who has only handled residential suddenly representing themselves as experts of retail or office properties.
In most areas of your life, you can walk around and conduct business for yourself - buy a hot dog, rent a car, etc., etc. There may be rules those you deal with have to follow and prescribed rules around the transactions, but in most cases you have to look out for yourself - buyer beware and all that. In the real estate industry, buyer (and seller) beware applies as well, but the states I know about have decided that you will in most cases have a real estate professional helping to look out for your interests. Yes, you read that right - in most cases, it is strongly encouraged (not quite required) that a primary party to a real estate transaction employs the services of a real estate professional. If you’re wealthy, there are some ways around it that might save you money, but given the way most real estate regulations are structured, you should really be asking yourself why would I try to do it without a broker in my corner? The transaction fees required for their involvement are generally already built into most real estate transactions.
This would be a long list if I were to list them all - I’ll list a few from various sources including the Texas Administrative Code, the rules of the Texas Real Estate Commission (TREC), and other sources for your consideration. A licensee must:
This list could go on and on, and is highly specific to cases that have been encountered in any given state. If the above list isn’t enough, let me add a kicker that might push you over the edge. If you can prove the broker you hired isn’t what your real estate commission says he/she must be or doesn’t do the things your real estate commissions says he/she must do, that real estate commission has the teeth to enforce the rules they set out by force of law. In TEXAS, TREC maintains a fund collected from licensees to make certain that they can make settlements should they decide there were violations that warrant settlements.
In layman’s terms, find a qualified broker with good communication skills and work with them exclusively. They will put in the time and effort using their resources to find, or sell/lease the property you want. Let them do the work while you manage your business and personal life.
There are probably no real downsides to using the right “qualified” broker to represent you. However, we can touch upon why you want to be careful in your selection. The following is an attempt at a list - which I expect to improve and enhance over time:
When I was pursuing my license originally here in Texas, I was amazed to see the detail with which TREC describes their expectations for ethical behavior, and for the behaviors they expect in general. Not to brag (well, maybe), but it was not all that difficult for me since the bulk of it was how I strive to do business in any case. Evidently there must be people out there who need a lot of help, guidance, and at least a little enforcement - because the states decided that this industry, along with a few others, requires fairly tight regulation. Please seriously consider willingly letting a broker take you under his/her wing and help you through what tends to be a fairly complex business transaction - sooner rather than later!
See our short disclaimer.
Are you looking for Warehouse, Office or other space in Houston or elsewhere? Do you need to renew your lease?
Contact Warehouse Finder using our Get Started link above, call us at the phone number on this page in the upper right, or chat with us using our chat widget on the page in the lower right.
A good while ago - if interested, you can likely tell how long by the dates of some of the posts - I began this journey of creating a web site for commercial real estate seekers. I hoped to fill the site with as much useful information as I could manage. Four or five other web sites under my belt later and I’m back to reassess and push forward. Finally taking the time to finish off the links to nation-wide Real Estate Commissions (however they are named) seems like a great thing to talk about at least briefly - not to mention an excellent way to tell our users about some of the techniques for finding this type of information on our site.
The first thing to know - and if you are reading this you already know 1 way to find this article - it’s the FINDthisSPACE web site Articles and Links structure. Posts on our site are one of two things (so far) - 1) a BLOG Post like this one, and 2) a Link to useful information elsewhere on the web. In both cases, you can view the summary of all Posts, or Articles and Links on our Articles and Links page here. On this page, you’ll find all of them listed in chronological order with “sticky” articles we feel we need to prioritize at the top. If you just want to browse, this is probably where you want to be.
For those of you who want to find information faster, we’ve provided a few ways to narrow things down. We’ve provided:
At this point, all the Real Estate Commission Links/Synopses are Tagged with Consumer Advocacy and State Regulations (I may use more tags as we go along on these). If you see one of these Tags under a synopsis on the BLOG page, you can click on that Tag and it will narrow (filter) the BLOG page by Tag - which I’m calling “tagify.” These links are also available on the BLOG Post/Article page (accessed under News and Info - the Articles & Links (A&L) link) after the article. These links work the same. Note that these Place Tags aren’t links yet - I’m working on that.
As implied above, Place Tags are still under development. They have a good deal of potential. Right now, the best way to get to the state you want without browsing the entire set of posts is to use the “By Metro” under News and Info. Click on your state, and then on any of the Metro areas within that state to get the one you want. Anything Place-tagged with a state will appear with that filter.
The last is the Commercial Real Estate type flag. This, too, is under continued development, but as of now it works as you might expect. There’s not a lot of content currently that requires this filter, but I expect that to change over time.
If you end up finding these tags (filters) useful, you may also want to register with our site. Each of these tag types have their own saving mechanism, as do BLOG Posts themselves.
Thanks for having a look and check back often!
Centermark CRE (Commercial Real Estate)
Vincent Rivera - (713) 775-8560
Want more infomation about something on this page? Need industrial, office or warehouse space? Fill out our form here to let our Broker Affiliate Network know about your needs including help assessing an existing lease. You may also call us at (800) 814 - 4214 to begin the discussion.
Please contact us at our Info Email address or use our Contact Us form if you have questions or concerns.
