How To Lease Good:
Finding the right Warehouse site.
'How To Lease Good' is a new series about Warehouse, Office, and Retail property leasing for commercial occupiers. Brought to you by Tenant Leasing Group (TLG).
Tenant Leasing Group (TLG) is an Australian commercial property advisory specialised in sourcing and lease negotiation for warehouse, office, and multi-site retail. We have 50+ years’ experience in Australia and New Zealand’s industrial and logistics property markets, and can get our clients the right sites at the right prices.
- How do you find a warehouse to rent near you?
- Leasing a bonded warehouse for your supply chain?
- Need help negotiating the terms of your industrial property lease agreement?
To find the right warehouse site to lease, you first need to know that it matches your requirements. Here are some of the big questions you may want to consider asking, to make sure you get the lease you need.
Size
- How many square metres (sqm) do you think you need?
- What are these calculations based on?
- Does this account for inventory and excess stock, or future commercial expansion?
- Have you considered sub-leasing (or having the ability to sub-lease part of your warehouse depending on future requirements)?
Location
- Which suburbs or regions are you looking in – are they metropolitan or regional?
- Do you need to be close to airports, train stations, arterial roads, CBD, or other logistical nodes?
- Proximity to residential or commercial catchments or specific services?
- For example, scaled logistics infrastructure, food & beverage, transporation, recreation?
- Would you consider options in other areas? Relocation can be profitable – check out this example from our client Koala in Sydney.
Zoning and Premises type
- Does the the site need to be single or mixed-use?
- For example, is it 100% industrial usage you require permission for, or do you also need usage as an office, or recreation space? What ratio of office to industrial space do you need?
- If looking for a warehouse, what license do you require?
- All private and general warehouses that are to store excise equivalent goods (EEG), either solely or in addition to other goods, must be licensed by the Australian Taxation Office (ATO)
- Do you know the legal zoning status of your shortlisted sites?
- Are you in communication with the lessor?
As well as securing a pre-committment from a local developer, when we worked with climbing gym business BlocHaus Bouldering, we ensured that zoning on their industrial site in Canberra allowed for recerational use – a sticking point of the deal.
Clearance
- What is the maximum clearance height you could require in your warehouse?
- 5, 7, 11 metres? How do you know?
- Does it have to be open-plan?
Access
- Does the site need to be on the ground floor?
- What types of vehicles need to be able to access the site?
- Are there customer access requirements?
Warehouse site attributes
- Power: how many AMPS does your operation require? Will you need to upgrade to cater for growth?
- A case study in this vein is our project sourcing and negotiating a lease deal for Culture Kings’ 3,700sqm distribution centre and screen-printing facility at Villawood Logistics Estate. As part of the deal, 3 phase power was upgraded from 250 amps to 1,000amps.
- Ventilation and plumbing
- Lighting
- Hydraulic systems and specialist industrial machinery
- Roller doors, fencing, lifts
- Car parking, for staff or customers
- Surveillance and security? The list goes on…
Amenities
- Do you need bathrooms on site (and do they need to be accessible)?
- Will you need a kitchen – wet or dry?
- Do you require space for an office?
- Will you need partitions?
Fixtures and fit-out
- Should the site be empty, furnished or plug and play?
- Do you need a bespoke fit-out?
Not clear on all your requirements? You’re not alone. Get in touch.
Good warehouse site sourcing begins when you know what you need.
When you are clear on what your business needs, you can conduct a more accurate and thorough search of the suitable warehouse sites are available to lease on the market.
You may need a warehouse for storage, blending, unpacking, repacking and packaging of certain types of goods. It may act as a distribution centre, returns house, or some other fulfilment operation.
Depending on the types of goods you sell, you may need a customs warehouse license (sometimes referred to in the industry as a “bonded warehouse”).
Whatever you need, it helps if you can then leverage relationships with agents, access extensive property data and know about opportunities that may currently be ‘off-market’ (hint: TLG can help with this).
The next step is creating and culling your short-list. And then most importantly – negotiating your rent and lease terms with the lessor. This is where cost savings and sustainability are decided.
Phil’s calm style of negotiation has consistently got us optimal commercial results… His experience is invaluable to us.
Simon Beard
Hopefully this brief run-down gives you some food for thought when looking at leasing a warehouse for your business – eCommerce, retail, entertainment, or otherwise.
TLG has 50 years’ experience finding & negotiating leases for businesses with warehouse and other industrial and logistics property requirements.
Any questions? Get in touch.
#HowToLeaseGood is a series about Warehouse, Office and Retail property leasing. Case studies and market insights to empower commercial occupiers.
Check out other articles in the series:
Tenant Leasing Group (TLG) is an Australian commercial property advisory specialised in sourcing and lease negotiation for warehouse, office, and multi-site retail.