Buy warehouse or land of plot for storage facility construction

The logistics real estate market is in a unique situation. With the decline in demand for office space, the warehousing domain is rapidly growing. Quarantine measures during the COVID-19 pandemic led to growth in demand for warehouses. It’s connected with the fact that the evolving e-commerce occupies the majority of storage space. According to the experts of Cushman & Wakefield Ukraine, the vacancy of warehouses is expected to decrease and the rent rate of industrial premises is expected to increase. The experts explain this fact by growing demand for the logistics real estate, proposals are limited and building of facilities is carried out to specific production needs. Under such circumstances, the idea of buying a warehouse can be a profitable investment for your business.

The purchase of warehouse real estate is one of the forward-looking investment directions in Ukraine. According to the experts of Cushman & Wakefield, the profitability of the logistics segment in Kyiv is 12,75%. Due to the localization of large industries, investors are attracted to industrial facilities throughout the country. Warehouses near railway, highways, and state roads are of particular interest. Despite increased demand for online retailers, the purchase of mini-warehouses is less attractive to investors. Perhaps, the focus will shift to universal storage facilities in the format of urban logistics in the future.

With the acute shortage of warehouses, the purchase of a good warehouse has become a necessity. Owners of online retail and large networks are constantly looking for real estate for delivery points, customer pickup, and storage of goods. Developers build new facilities of in-city logistics too slowly, so the growth of offers on such premises isn’t so remarkable. In addition, objects of in-city warehouses can get a high rental rate. On this occasion, it may be more profitable to buy a used warehouse and convert it to business needs.

​Pros and cons of buying a warehouse

Advantages of buying a warehouse:

• It’s your property, so you don’t need to approve redevelopment or repair work;
• Your business is more attractive to investors and creditors;
• You can arrange your warehouse to your business’s needs;
• It can be outsold or rented if it is unnecessary.

Disadvantages of buying a warehouse:

• The closing of the deal is rather expensive;
• Repair and maintenance of a warehouse require resources;
• The paperwork demands much time and money.

To buy or rent a storehouse?

Entrepreneurs are often faced with a choice: to buy a warehouse or to rent it? They should rely on the financial capacity of the company and the size of the business. Buying a warehouse for business is usually relevant for medium-sized businesses and the developed small enterprise. If you are just starting your business, it is better to rent or buy a container for storage. Large enterprises often invest in the construction of industrial facilities with different utility rooms (offices, workshops, storehouses for raw materials, products, service stations, etc.).To buy or rent a warehouse?

To buy a warehouse or a hangar is not that simple. The vacancy of industrial space is very low, so it is very difficult to choose the right option. According to forecasts, the rapid growth of the construction of urban warehouses is expected within 5-7 years. So if you want to buy the warehouse, now is the time.

By purchasing a warehouse, category and type of storehouse are important. The price per square meter, storage conditions, and logistics efficiency depend on this.

​Categories of warehouses

There are six categories of warehouses according to the common classification. They are A+, A, B+, B, C, D. The best and most modern warehouses are A+. Such warehouses are built specifically for logistical needs`. They are located near highways and have a high speed of cargo handling. Warehouses of the A+ category are equipped with offices, modern fire extinguishing systems. They are carefully guarded and video surveillance is installed. These warehouses have a temperature control option. Category A is distinguished from others by being renovated, and these warehouses are not older than 20-30 years.

Category B+ is similar to category A only because of heating and utilities. The warehouses are equipped with automated gates, ramps for unloading, and freight lifts. Unlike category A, it requires investment in security and modern storage systems. These storehouses differ in the height of ceilings, restriction in the use of freight elevators, mezzanine constructions.

The most inefficient warehouses are categories C and D. Warehouses of category C were originally built for production purposes. Former workshops and hangars are often rebuilt into warehouses. This category also includes Soviet period warehouses. Warehouse C is equipped with unloading ramps, central heating. They require additional costs for security and storage equipment.

The warehouses of the D category are beyond capital repairs. They were never meant for storage. Such warehouses include unheated spaces, garages, and basements. Category D is not always fitted with logistic equipment, not guarded, and can have no communication. Such warehouses are usually used for raw materials or products that don’t require special storage conditions.

​Types of warehouses

A storehouse is chosen not only by its technical characteristics and equipment. One more important criterion is the type of goods that will be stored in the future warehouse space. There are offers for sale of different types of storehouses on our site:

• Logistics complex. It is a large storage area with several logistics facilities: warehouses, hangars, service stations, car washes, offices, utility rooms, parking lots, etc. Logistics complexes provide storage, handling, sorting, and customs clearance of cargo.
• Warehouse-freezer. It is a low-temperature room for storing food in the deep freeze. The temperature in this warehouse is -24.
• Multi-temperature warehouse. Various goods and articles can be stored here. The best conditions for the storage of specific products are provided in each cell.
• Unheated warehouse. Among these are open or closed storage areas as well as buildings without central heating. Raw material or products resistant to external shocks can be stored here.
• Dry warehouse. It is a building without temperature control. Dry warehouses maintain optimal humidity, but temperatures can be low. They are suitable for clothes, furniture, vegetable storage.
• Warm warehouse. These rooms are heated, but there is no temperature control. Warm warehouses maintain a constant temperature, humidity, there are no drafts.

Cool warehouse. It differs from a warehouse-freezer by the equipment of the cooling system without freezing. You can set the necessary temperature on your own. It’s not so easy to buy a cold storage warehouse – there are few offers of this type.

Buying a warehouse is a challenging task under a lack of locations. Moreover, popular websites with ads for the sale of real estate don’t take into account the peculiarities of searching logistics facilities. The purchase of storage via WareTeka has a number of advantages:

• Hundreds of offers from owners and reliable brokers;
• Thanks to the easy search tool you can sort variants on criteria;
• Interactive map shows visually a location of storehouse;
• Signing-up is unnecessary for searching a warehouse;
• Complete information about technical features and peculiarities of storage.

The registration on the website allows saving search terms. If you cannot choose an appropriate variant, we’ll help you. To find a necessary warehouse, the WareTeka team researches specific features of your business: what kind of goods must be kept, in which city, in what amounts, etc.