Mar 20, 2020 - 0 Comments - Industrial -

The Tight Inventory of Newer 7-10k sf Light Industrial Properties

In my practice I’ve noticed a dearth of moderate sized, 7,000 to 10,000 square feet, light industrial properties. There are numbers of older properties, many of which predate the widespread use of the container ship and the consequent dominance of the modern semi-trailer truck. Older buildings frequently have lower ceilings, lack dock height loading, and have inadequate room for trucks. Given this, users that require these features and are willing to pay for them tend to isolate their searches to properties built in the last few decades.

The chart above shows the total number of light industrial buildings in the entire county by maximum number of years old. As can be seen, there are a mere 66 properties that are less than 30 years old (i.e. built since 1990). Based on average data for commercial properties in the county, that likely means 4 or 5 such properties trade in a given year. Sometimes these don’t even make it to the market but instead quietly trade off market. Given that, and further that most buyers are looking in a given area, it is likely that a suitable property comes available that matches a buyer’s needs once a year.

What is the lesson of this? When you are looking for a property like this and find one, don’t mess around; don’t expect that another will just come along just like it. Get it.