Site selection involves evaluating on-site and off-site factors of properties under consideration. This post discusses four key concepts in site selection, common on-site and off-site factors for distribution, and common on-site and off-site factors for manufacturing uses.

Companies who are indecisive about leasing or purchasing an industrial property are often still in the exploratory phase of site selection. They have not obtained internal alignment on the project and are not ready to actively pursue available options. Therefore, their tire kicking is often a symptom that the company has not completed a prior required step in the site selection process, not that they are pre-disposed to being indecisive or unaccepting of anything less than perfection.

Finding available infill properties for land-intensive industrial occupiers is typically much more challenging than office, warehouse or manufacturing uses. Due to these challenges, site selection for land-intensive industrial occupiers must be designed differently to increase the odds of success.

In many ways insurance is an unsung hero in industrial real estate. It allows interested parties to insure themselves and other parties. Without it, the financial risks associated with the ownership of and operation within industrial real estate would be discouraging, if not disqualifying, to prospective industrial property owners and occupiers.