Noted author Nathaniel Hawthorne once said that families were always rising and falling in America, and the same can be said for business as well. Whether it’s due to technological advances that render certain jobs obsolete, a lack of demand, or a lack of funding, certain industries are disappearing. For example, the photographic film and paper industry has all but slowed to a screeching halt thanks to the advent of digital photography.
On the other hand, certain industries are thriving, and the warehousing and distribution is a prime example. Worth an estimated $26 billion, the U.S. storage and commercial warehousing industry is thriving and with no signs of slowing down. In fact, warehouse development is on the rise, and there has been a steady increase in speculative building. It’s estimated that approximately 62% of the 59 million square feet under construction by the end of the third quarter in 2013 was being built without signed tenants.
Industrial warehouse space is just one aspect of commercial real estate development. As e-commerce continues to grow at a compounded annual average rate of 10% over the course of the next five years, this will create excellent investment opportunities for both business owners and commercial property developers of warehouse and distribution space. In fact, more and more online businesses are also leasing office space, in addition to leasing retail space, as they continue to expand.
If you’re a small business owner who is considering finding a warehouse to rent or buy, determining warehouse space needs is extremely important. Determining warehouse space needs and how much space the distribution and storage of your product will require can be difficult, especially if you are a new business owner.
Several differenct factors come into play when creating a fairly accurate estimate such as the size of items that will be distributed and stored, the quantity of items, how long the items will be stored before they are sold and shipped and more.
