Any business that deals with freight will need somewhere to put all that freight once the item are shipped from the factory but before they are ready to be distributed to retailers anywhere in the United States. This is where warehouses come into the picture, and industrial warehouse space is often available for lease for business clients who need it. Leasing a warehouse can be very lucrative, and offers the flexibility for a business to rent industrial warehouse space sufficient enough for its current needs, then move on to a bigger warehouse when need be. Leasing industrial warehouse space instead of buying it is also effective when a company expects to move its location and cannot take an owned warehouse along, so commercial warehousing space for lease is the right call for a company expecting to relocate sometime soon. Renting a warehouse is cost effective and flexible, but it should be done sensibly so that a company gets the most out of its rented industrial warehouse space without any waste. How can this be done?

Renting the Space

Warehouses are everywhere, from central Florida to New England to California, and in fact, due to recent trends, there may be a lot more warehouse spaces in the near future, and a lot of it may be available for lease for those interested. One factor here is e-commerce, the act of buying and selling through the Internet. E-commerce may grow at a compounded annual a average rate of about 10% over the next five years, and this means huge opportunities for owners and developers in the warehouse and distribution space sectors. Ever since the year 2000, the amount of occupied warehouse space and distribution space has grown 86.2%, and this trend could continue well into the future. And as of now, a rough total of 166,907 American workers are employed in the warehouse and storage leasing industry, and this total may grow as the industry itself does.

When the time comes for a manufacturer to find warehouse space open for rent, such as industrial ware house space, there are some factors to consider, with location being chief among them. A warehouse should be within a convenient distance of both the factory and the distribution centers where the items will be sent, and costs of transport and the timing will be affected by how close or far apart these different sites are. Of course, a company may expect higher expense rates if they lease warehouses close to major cities or retailers due to the convenient location, but if a company can afford the lease and finds open space, these warehouses can be highly lucrative. Trucks can drive to and from these leased warehouse spaces with minimal transport time and gas used in the trucks as they drive. If a company ends up finding leased industrial warehouse space further away, the shipping costs and time may be higher but the warehouse may be cheaper to rent and easier to find on the market, since there may be less competition for it.

The warehouse itself should suit the needs of the renter. It should, of course, have the actual open space and shelves needed to actually store everything that the client company expect to put there with each shipment, and a too-small warehouse won’t have the room and a warehouse too large will be wasted money with all that empty space left over. And some freight will have certain needs or safety concerns; for example, a grocer will need warehouses that include cooled spaces or freezers where wine bottles, dairy, processed frozen food, and other heat-sensitive food items can be stored without being ruined. Hazardous materials will also be demanding to store, and precautions should be taken with such freight, such as making sure that all truck drivers and warehouse crew have the qualifications to handle dangerous materials in an industrial warehouse space. Dry ice, for example, is frozen carbon dioxide that must be stored in a very low temperature or it will sublimate (turn directly from a solid to a gas), and it gives off dangerous CO2 gas and can cause frostbite on skin. Flammable materials might be stored, such as natural gas canisters or containers of oil.