Location is aways the key
- Roads, Highways & Traffic Flow
- Proximity to Airport, Railway Stations, Ports and Markets
- Building Availability, Rental Rates & Taxes
- Workforce Skills and Availability
- Parking usually equates to one parking space per 1,000 SF
Warehouse Types
- General Warehouses (heated and unheated) – bulk, rack, and bin storage, aisle space, receiving and shipping space, packing and crating space, and office space.
- Refrigerated warehouses – preserve the quality of perishable goods and general supply materials that require refrigeration. Includes freeze and chill space, processing facilities.
- Controlled humidity (CH) Warehouses – constructed with vapor barriers and contain humidity control equipment to maintain moisture at desired levels.
Clear Ceiling Heights
- Warehouse tenants continue to demand taller buildings in order to maximize the amount of product a location can hold. Ceiling heights have risen over the past few decades.
- In the 1980’s featured a clear ceiling height of ±20 feet.
- Clear ceiling height is the height below any joists, trusses, lighting or the maximum functional height that a company could use for racking or manufacturing.
- Heights start as low as 10 to 14 feet. In major distribution buildings, 36 feet has now become common, with clear heights rising past 40 feet in some cases. Balance of cost and benefit of extended ceiling height has a lot to do with available land on which to expand.
Loading requirements
- Dock high loading allows trucks to back up to the building and unload safely, quickly and efficiently.
- Grade level or “drive-in” (street level) and truck dock height loading are designed for larger trucks, such as a 53-foot-long semi-offers flexible functionality.
Electrical Requirements
- Measuring power: amperage (amps) and voltage (volts).
- Amps can vary from 200 into the thousands for heavy manufacturing buildings.
- Volts are measured in three standard sizes: 120V, 220V and 480V.
- The higher the amps, the more valuable the space will be to manufacturing companies or distributors that run sophisticated conveyor and sorting systems.
- AC power, or alternating current, changes direction frequently by doubling back on itself in cycles.
- Cycles are measured in Hertz, DC power, or direct current, which most batteries use, but only flows in one direction.
- Single-phase power, which is most commonly used in residential applications, is a type of electrical power where all of the voltages of the electricity vary in unison. In other words, all of the waves or cycles of the power occur simultaneously.
- Three-phase power, on the other hand, has each of the three-phase cycles occurring sequentially, or after each other. Each one is out of sync with the other by one third of their cycle. Commercial and industrial power is normally three-phase, and is capable of powering much bigger, much more current-hungry equipment stably and consistently. Voltage is the difference in electrical potential between two points.
- In commercial and industrial applications, several different voltages are used, including 208, 240, 480 and 600 volts. The voltage required for a particular application will also vary according to the power requirements of the building or installation.
