Industrial space examples worth copying, and why as of 2027

Nine industrial space examples, each a real building or park that solved one problem before signing. Copy the check, not the building.

What to take away

1. Prologis Park 100, Indianapolis: rack module against the column grid

Prologis runs Park 100, a multi-building industrial park on the northwest side of Indianapolis, near I-465. Older shallow-bay warehouses sit beside newer cross-dock buildings with clear heights typically in the 32 to 36 foot range. Prologis publishes column grids, clear heights and dock counts per building before a tour.

Why it is on the list: the rack module gets tested against the column grid before the letter of intent. Rack depth plus aisle either divides into the column spacing or it does not, and no negotiation fixes a bay that holds nothing. Grid and clear height together set real pallet capacity, as covered in industrial space.

2. DHL Supply Chain at Rickenbacker Global Logistics Park, Columbus, Ohio: sprinklers matched to the commodity

DHL Supply Chain runs large distribution buildings around Rickenbacker International Airport, inside the Rickenbacker Global Logistics Park in Columbus, Ohio. The park holds millions of square feet and sits beside the airport's cargo operations. Tenants there store mixed commodities under one roof, which is where the fire question starts.

The copyable move is the pre-lease fire protection review. A fire protection engineer and the insurer confirm the sprinkler design against the actual commodity class and storage height. Commodity class runs from Class I through Class IV, with Group A plastics in a category of their own.

Why it is on the list: a system designed for palletized paper at one height will not satisfy an insurer writing packaged plastics at another. The design standard is NFPA 13, and the fire authority measures against it before occupancy.

Insurers who work from FM Global data sheets, such as its commodity classification sheet, measure against a different set of rules. Ask which standard governs the site before the lease, not after.

3. Brooklyn Army Terminal, Sunset Park: power capacity in writing

The Brooklyn Army Terminal is a city-owned complex in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, built as an Army supply depot during World War I. It now houses manufacturers and food producers under one roof, sharing electrical service and loading areas.

In multi-tenant industrial buildings, incoming service size and available service are different numbers. A refrigeration tenant can hold most of the capacity on paper. The copyable move is a written answer from the utility on spare capacity and the upgrade timeline before the lease.

Why it is on the list: an upgrade can run longer than the fit-out, and the tenant pays rent through it. Ask the utility in writing, not the landlord.

4. World Logistics Center, Moreno Valley: yard use carries its own permit

The World Logistics Center in Moreno Valley, California, was approved for a plan of roughly 40 million square feet on about 2,600 acres, then spent years in litigation before a settlement with environmental groups let it proceed.

Outdoor storage is often a separate line in the municipal use table from the building's own use. A yard that held containers under a previous occupant may need conditional approval and screening for the next one. The copyable move is a zoning verification letter before the offer, with the written answer kept.

Why it is on the list: a notice from the municipality can arrive after occupancy. How to ask the planning office, and what to keep from the reply, is set out in zoning and permits.

5. CenterPoint Intermodal Center and AllianceTexas: truck courts sized to the largest vehicle

CenterPoint Intermodal Center in Joliet, Illinois, sits beside Union Pacific's Joliet intermodal terminal. AllianceTexas, Hillwood's development in north Fort Worth, wraps around Fort Worth Alliance Airport and the BNSF Alliance intermodal facility. Both generate constant trailer traffic.

Dock door counts mean nothing without a court that fits the vehicles that actually call. A 90-degree loading court for 53-foot trailers is typically about 120 feet deep, and deeper where trailers stage. A shallow court forces a shunt, and a tight entrance radius swings the trailer across a neighbor's frontage.

The copyable move is walking the route with the largest vehicle in mind and watching a delivery if possible.

Why it is on the list: doors are counted on the listing, courts are not.

6. Very narrow aisle racking: survey the slab before the truck order

Narrow-aisle storage with turret trucks raises capacity, but the equipment tolerates far less floor deviation than a counterbalance truck. The Raymond Corporation and Crown Equipment publish tolerance figures for their turret and reach trucks, and ASTM E1155 is the test method behind the floor flatness numbers.

As of 2026, general warehouse slabs are typically built to flatness numbers around FF 25 to 35, while very narrow aisle specifications often call for FF 100 or tighter. The truck maker's figure governs, and it should be in writing before the rack is ordered.

A slab that is sound and level for ordinary trucks can still miss that specification. Automated cold storage, the kind Lineage and Americold operate, fixes racking to the slab and raises the same question earlier. The copyable move is a floor survey before committing to the equipment.

Why it is on the list: grinding a floor after the rack is installed costs more than the survey.

7. Industry City, Sunset Park: a mezzanine with a settled surrender clause

Industry City covers about 35 acres and 16 buildings in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, with roughly 6 million square feet of multi-story industrial space. Multi-story buildings like those make removal work harder than installation.

A mezzanine and rack system installed over a long term can cost more to remove than to install, especially with slab fixings and repainting. The copyable move is settling the surrender obligation for anything installed at the start, in the lease itself.

The principles on who owns what at the end of a fit-out are in tenant improvements.

Why it is on the list: a clause requiring return to original condition turns your improvement into your liability.

8. Port yards at Long Beach and Los Angeles: a stormwater permit in place

Washing vehicles or storing residue-shedding materials in a yard is an industrial discharge under rules many tenants never read. In California, the State Water Resources Control Board's Industrial General Permit covers many warehouse and yard operations, and the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles add tenant requirements of their own.

The EPA's stormwater program page describes the federal framework a state or regional authority applies to a particular site. The copyable move is asking the environmental body what your activity requires, before the offer.

Why it is on the list: the obligation sits with the operator, not the landlord.

9. AIR CRE standard forms: a net lease with the roof excluded

In a net lease, the repair clause defines what the tenant maintains. If the premises, as defined, take in the roof, a replacement two winters in lands on the tenant.

The AIR Commercial Real Estate Association publishes standard industrial lease forms used across the West, and the roof and structure allocation is a drafting choice inside them.

The copyable move is drafting roof and structure to the landlord explicitly, and reading the allocation rather than the rate. The general rules are in commercial leasing.

Why it is on the list: the rate is negotiated, the allocation is often not read.

What the nine have in common

None of those answers comes from the landlord or the listing.

Common questions

Are these real buildings?

Yes. The named parks, buildings and operators are real and operating. The specific lease terms, rents and outcomes are not published, so the article describes the check each one demonstrates rather than a transaction result.

Which problem is hardest to recover from?

Sprinkler mismatch and yard prohibition, because either can make the building unusable for the operation while the lease still runs. Both are answerable before signature at low cost.

Should I hire an engineer before I have a shortlist?

Engage one when a building reaches the shortlist, with your operation's numbers. An opinion on two or three candidates costs far less than a lease you cannot use.

What is the cheapest check on this list?

Walking the truck route. It costs an hour and rules out buildings that look perfect on a plan.