My 4 Step Formula for Developing Flex Spaces That Stand Out

"My commercial flex space developments stand out from the competition because of 4 key elements. The way I design my industrial real estate has made me millions of dollars. It is the fastest, most efficient, and proven way to develop real estate.

First, let’s quickly recap why my preferred development is flex spaces. With the popularity of e-commerce, a lot of businesses need a place where they can store their products but also have an office for their day-to-day activities. The market for this is BOOMING. A lot of small to medium sized businesses are no longer interested in expensive and wasteful offices that don’t offer real storage solutions. Flex spaces solve all of these problems."

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I create business parks with multiple buildings and each building can house multiple tenants. Each space has both an office and a warehouse space. I create metal buildings that are easy to put up and customize for my tenants

Here is my layout:

On each side of the space I have a big cutout, and a small cutout. The small cutout is for office access, and the big cutout is for the warehouse access. Since on each side of the building there is BOTH office and warehouse access, that means that I can add a wall in the middle of the building, and I can have different tenants for each side of the building. Each tenant will have completely separate spaces. This means that in each office warehouse park, there are eight different tenants who have eight different businesses, creating a really unique atmosphere in the office warehouse park. Now back to the formula. Here is the 4 step formula that I use for developing flex spaces that truly stand out.

1. Maximize rentable square footage: I realized early on that a lot of square footage is wasted on many of the industrial projects that I’ve visited. This is why I commit to working smartly with my architect to create a layout that maximizes square footage. Oftentimes, the land you buy for development is not a perfect square; it may have a funny shape or may even have easements or restrictions. A good architect can work around this and put the maximum amount of usable square footage. More rentable square footage equals more rent —> $$$

2. Flexible Space: I build large flex space buildings that are roughly 12,000 sq ft. I installed 6 bays in those buildings, each bay includes a bay door and an office door/entrance. Meaning, I can divide the space into 1500 or 2000 sq ft individual spaces or I can combine 2, 3 or more spaces to make 1 larger warehouse depending on what the client is looking for. This formula works for me because I know my client base and make my land acquisitions and developments based on them and their preferences. Other combinations could work better for you.

3. Modernized Interiors: The “office” part of the flex space is an integral part of the business that will be renting from me. This is their business “front”, where their clients will be visiting and hopefully making purchasing decisions. I like to design these spaces with a healthy mix of what’s trending and what’s classic. I spend a little extra time deciding on floors, walls and glasses installs.You might think it’s counterintuitive to bother with aesthetics in a commercial asset but at the end of the day, your tenant cares about it and so should you. Oftentimes, these small details will differentiate you from the competition.

4. Curb Appeal: Another design element that makes a big difference in renting out units fast and for a lot of money is your warehouse’s curb appeal. This means exterior colors, glass colors, the brick, the awnings, the entrance and the landscaping. All these elements come together to give you beautiful buildings that stand out from the competition. You can work with your architect and GC to pick colors and construction material that is sturdy but also aesthetically pleasing.

I did a lot of driving around Houston and planning and talking to come up with this winning formula. These small changes made a huge difference in my ROI and that’s why I am always incorporating them in my commercial developments. What changes will you make in your plans to see this kind of ROI?