All Forum Posts by: Cole Bigbee

@David Song  Let me know if I can help you in any way.

@David Song If you look at the top of the building on the outside, you should see some kind of box at the peak that has the manufacturer's name listed on it. Depending on the age of the building and if the inside has been painted or covered up, you should be able to find a job number listed on some of the framing members. If you call the manufacturer and give him the job number, the should be able to pull all of the job information up and can easily get you the dimensions for the pieces you need. They also should be able to pull the job up by the address. 

A few days a week, I catch myself looking through the commercial forum for articles or posts of people making investments or asking questions on industrial/warehouse style buildings. With the lack of information on the BP forums, I am devoting one day a week to providing more information on these type of investments to the BP Community.

While warehouse and industrial-style buildings can be made up of many different types of materials, including block and bar joist, structural steel, tilt-wall concrete and wood, the make-up I am going to be specifically discussing is pre-engineered metal buildings. Metal buildings are considered the most popular solution to low-rise commercial building construction. A few of the benefits of this type of system include

• Design and fabrication from a single source manufacturer.
• Materials come pre-punched with each piece marked for quick construction.
• The interior and exterior elements can be easily altered to accommodate the end user’s choice of cladding.
• Minimal waste
• Building packages come with an engineer stamp of the state in which the building is located.

With that being said we are going to start with some basic building terminology, so that the next time you go inspect a warehouse or consult with a contractor you will both be speaking the same language!

As you can see from the above picture, the metal paneling of the building is pulled back revealing the framing members and their proper names. One thing to note about a metal building is that this picture depicts a gable style building, but the pieces can easily be re-configured to form a single slope or lean-to structure.

An item not listed on this page and one I see mentioned in several posts are the clear heights and what that actually is on a metal building. If you notice the two center frames on the building, you will see that they are much larger than the one at the end. Reason being is that these frames are carrying half the load of the roof on each side of the frame. The clear height is measured from the finished floor to the underside of one of these frames where the column and rafter come together. So, while this area is much shorter, note that this only occurs every 20’-30’ on metal buildings so your height actually steps back up everywhere else.

Well, this concludes the 1st of my weekly post. Be sure to check back next week as we continue to deep dive into industrial/warehouse investments. If you have any questions, feel free to reach out. 

@Kim Hopkins Is the structure an actual metal building, or is it block and bar joist? Do you have pics of the inside you can share?  If it is a metal building, I am assuming when you say clear height that is underneath where the rafter and column come together or are your saying that is the clear height everywhere on the inside? 

If it is a true metal building, there is a lot you can do to better accommodate tenants, including cutting in larger overhead doors and removing some office space without compromising the structure. Industrial projects are my specialty and I am happy to help in anyway I can. 

Sounds like if it is 100% leased and the number's work, it is a no brainer. 

@Ryan MacDonald Might be worth getting with a civil engineer/surveying company to see how bad it is in the flood. It might not costs as much as you think to get it out. 

@Justin Dar  You definitely don't want someone dumping hazardous products on your lot such as oil and any other harsh chemicals that could potentially contaminate the ground water. Make sure they have proper disposal methods if they are a "shade tree" type mechanic. 

@Luke Grogan Are you still pursing this deal?  It sounds like there is some opportunity there. Especially if half the space will be leased. You just want to make sure the other half will have enough dock doors and adequate office space for a future business. If the numbers make sense go for it!

@Justin Dar Metal buildings are a great investment and very versatile. I built several 30' x 50' x 12' shops and put 1 bath room in each of them with 2 garage doors and have had no issue keeping them rented. The y are great for a "hobby" shop, woodshop, storage, or service type provider (plumber, electrician, etc.)  There is more pros then cons on this type of space. It sounds like your going about it the right way. If you can find the land at a decent costs, then the actual building cost are pretty easy to nail down. Keep doing what your doing as long as the numbers still make sense. MY guess is there is more larger buildings (above 5K sqft) then there is smaller stuff in your area so you should have no issue leasing them up.

@Andrew Tripp

Anyone that is just now pulling the trigger on a spec building, will have way too much in it. Yes there is still a lot of building going up but most those have been in the pipeline for over a year. 

On the larger buildings that consist of tilt-up walls, bar joists and decking, almost all bar-joist manufacturing companies can't deliver any materials until 2nd quarter of next year if you ordered this week. They also won't guarantee you a price until it ships! Like you said the B-T-S projects will continue to go on, I just don't see how anything spec that is just now going in the pipeline will make sense upon completion. 

@Oshea Jephson

You are on track with the right size. 50' wide and 125' long and a 16' height will be a good start. 1 bathroom and small office for each bay with a 12' x 14' overhead door and 1 walk door will open the doors for many tenants.