Building Your Own Custom-Made Warehouse

As you may be aware, today’s industrial parks or warehouses are far from the dirty industrial regions most Malaysians are accustomed to, thanks to technological advancements and the shifting global economic scene, particularly following the pandemic.

Some of these modern warehouse properties have sleek contemporary looks and are housed in clean, green surroundings with ample facilities for a healthy work environment. They even look good enough to live in!

However, as we know, these days the requirements for warehouses can be so niche due to the very diversified nature of businesses, which leads to the different operations and systems to be able to function efficiently and effectively. Hence, it is no surprise that there are also plenty of built-to-suit warehouses these days to cater to the different needs of business owners.

Amongst the advantages of building your own warehouse is that you are able to specifically decide on the configuration of how the warehouse would work to your advantage. Hence, you would be able to save a lot on unnecessary details with a dedicated team just working on what you need. However, do note that due to the specific configuration tailored to your needs, it can also be very difficult later on to sell or rent out.

It is also often advisable to engage a reputable developer to plan, construct, and customize the best property for the tenant at the best price. Always look out for developers with a good track record and reputation so that you are assured that in the event anything goes wrong, they will take full responsibility.

It is worth highlighting that a build-to-suit warehouse needs to have a minimal amount of funding for the project to be executed, which approximately 15% to 25% of the total construction cost to enable approvals, sanctions, site pre-development expenses, and foundation for the project to kick off.

This is because build-to-suit warehouses are so capital-intensive. It is also wise for the owner to make sure that the location and ingress, and egress of the warehouse are considered.

Warehouses are usually used to manufacture or store goods, hence there is a lot of traffic involved every day with the transportation of goods and materials. Therefore, the warehouse would need to be able to contribute to the efficiency of the process and not vice versa.

A tip would be to engage a reputable real estate agency or consultant who specialises in this area, so as to give you a perspective and idea of the nitty-gritty and technical details. More of than not, they are also familiar with the different locations and types of warehouses they have come across which will enable to them feed you with ideas and advice of some of the dos and donts before the warehouse is built.