Industrial Tenants, Including Big-Box Retailers, Driving Demand For Co-Warehousing Model
December 7, 2021 | Bianca Barragan | Bisnow
Companies that provide a coworking-esque model for warehouse space are growing in demand among industrial users, and it’s not just small businesses driving gains for the sector.
Major retailers and logistics companies, such as Walmart, are making use of flexible warehouse options to help with seasonal surges in space needs, like those that occur around the holidays or the back-to-school season, sources tell Bisnow.
“This is an interesting newer development, larger institutional occupiers using this [coworking-for-warehouses space] for their flexible needs,” Savills Director and Head of Industrial Research Mark Russo told Bisnow.
Companies like Saltbox and Cubework, which provide flexible or short-term leases for users of industrial space, are in growth mode along with the larger industrial sector, which has seen historic gains in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. However, some industry watchers have reservations about the stability of the business model and a potential lack of transparency for building owners, not unlike the concerns felt by office players over the boom in office coworking.
Russo said the so-called co-warehousing model makes sense for larger occupiers not just during busy shopping seasons, but also as major companies try to insulate their business from the supply chain woes that have spiked over the last year and a half.
