Industrial real estate can often be found in the outside areas of a city, which still have good transportation access and infrastructure. These factors attract other companies as well, thus forming industrial parks close to major train stations, harbours and airports.
As most other properties that are considered commercial real estate, industrial can be divided further into certain categories.
Manufacturing:
Manufacturing industrial real estate is used for different purposes, either heavy manufacturing or light assembly use-cases.
Heavy manufacturing requires customized buildings that fit exactly the needs of the tenant. This also means that it is very difficult to make use of them, if the company decides to leave the place. Fortunately, tenants usually stay for long periods of time because of the initial investment in customization.
Light assembly is the opposite of heavy manufacturing. This type of commercial real estate has a simple structure and arrangement of equipment, which makes it easy to reconfigure.
Storage/Distribution:
Storage and Distribution centres are used to receive, keep and send away products.
Distribution warehouses specialize in the process of receiving the delivery of a product, storing it for a short amount of time and then sending it to other businesses or the final customer.
Storage warehouses focus on keeping items for a long period of time without immediate distribution. This makes their setup more simple and less costly.
Flex Space:
Flex spaces are industrial properties that do not fit into either of the previous categories and are often a combination of office spaces, storage, assembly and manufacturing. They include for example: data centres, research & development departments, and showrooms.