As we have actually discussed many times, commercial real estate is as varied as a teenager's moods.

Sure, we deal in three particular asset classes: industrial, workplace and retail. Within each are subcategories that create the variations.

A local shopping center is different than a Mimi's Cafe. Your medical professional's workplace has various amenities than your CPA.

Today's column offers with the functions that specify the various types of industrial structures. There are 3 primary categories of industrial structures: production, logistics storage facilities and flex.
Production structures are usually constructed of concrete, concrete block or metal. It's likewise where items are made, kept and delivered. The raw products of the manufacturing procedure are usually kept on site (sometimes in an outside storage yard so regarding not poach inside flooring space) as well as the machinery that makes the products and the workers that run the equipment and support the production procedure.

These buildings can be "freestanding" or parts of a larger building but typically have higher power feeds into the building, 10-30% of the overall square footage in office space, ground-level filling doors vs. truck-high loading doors (some may have both), fenced outside storage locations and a warehouse clearance of 14 to 24 feet under-beam in the warehouse/plant location.

They also have more parking spaces-- a minimum of 2 parking areas per 1,000 square feet of building since these places usually have more workplace area

Manufacturers can typically operate in a building with lower ceiling height since their plant is taken in with machinery and raw materials vs. ended up items waiting to be shipped. The majority of items are made and delivered within days so as not to inventory a big amount of ended up items.

A distribution storage facility as explained below will typically not fit a manufacturing requirement, however some distributors may be able to inhabit a production building specifically if the structure is equipped with truck-high and ground-level loading.

Logistics storage facilities

Logistics structures used to be described as circulation storage facility structures.

They usually are made from concrete (because of the wall height). Products are staged, saved and delivered from within their walls. Typically, no manufacturing or assembly is done on-site.

Fewer assistance personnel and no raw products are housed at the area. Logistics buildings need truck-high loading, storage facility clearance of a minimum of 24 feet and a truck-turning radius of 130 feet or more.

The ideal setup is a rectangular building with "cross-dock" loading so that the point from saved items to packing doors is lessened. Because these buildings typically house fewer employees, the premium on workplace space and parking is minimized.
The computer boom of the early- to mid-1980s gave birth to a new industry and consequently a brand-new type of commercial structure-- the flex structure, formerly called a research study and development structure.

Because computer business used a large number of experienced employees, the typical industrial structure didn't contain adequate office space or enough parking for extra workplaces to be added.

Developers of R&D buildings developed the "mezzanine second story" which allowed a smaller lot to accommodate a bigger structure. Silicon Valley in Northern California and the Irvine Spectrum are occupied with these flex structures.

Usually, these structures are made from concrete and glass because they are modern and are inhabited by a high-tech production or assembly group and a big employee count (engineering, accounting, purchasing, sales, sales assistance and client service).

Parking, power, workplace percentage and design are the important features within these structures. These structures have three or 4 parking areas per 1,000 square feet of building, and in many cases, can accommodate an use that needs 100% office.

Less important are loading, clear height in the storage facility and outside lawn storage.

You may have some of the characteristics of all of the above in your area and it functions just great. The above is real in the "classic" definition of the building types.

Allen C. Buchanan, SIOR, is a principal with Lee & & Associates Commercial Real Estate Services in Orange. He can be reached at abuchanan@lee-associates.com or 714.564.7104.