What decides the cost · Clear Height
More Is Not Always Better
Clear height has risen steadily and it is not free. Each additional foot costs across several systems and only earns it back if the market racks that high.
The geotechnical report, the intended clear height and the likely tenant profile. Those three tell us more than a full set of drawings.
The slab
The one element a tenant judges on, and cannot fix
Self-perform
Dewatering and deep foundations in house
Commodity
Fire protection designed to what is actually stored
Licensed
General contractor, licensed in the state of Florida
Height ripples through everything
Additional clear height means taller wall panels, heavier columns, sometimes deeper foundations, a different sprinkler design and a higher wind load on a large panel in Florida. It is not one line item. It is a multiplier across the building, and the return depends entirely on whether tenants in that submarket will actually use it.
What to weigh
- What tenants in the specific submarket actually rack to.
- The cost across wall, structure, foundations and sprinklers.
- Wind loading on tall panels, which Florida takes seriously.
- Whether the site or zoning caps height anyway.
- What competing product in the submarket offers.
How we handle it
- 01Price two or three heights honestly so the comparison is real.
- 02Be explicit about what each increment costs across all systems.
- 03Flag where site or zoning constrains it regardless.
- 04Fix the height early and hold it.
Fix the clear height early and stop revisiting it. It is the decision that ripples furthest through an industrial design, and every change after design development costs more than the height gained is worth.
Said plainly
Where we stop
If the submarket does not lease at that height, extra clear is money spent on a number in a brochure. We will price the alternatives so the comparison is real rather than assumed.
FAQ
Common questions
- How much clear height should we build?
- What your submarket actually racks to. Extra height is a multiplier across several systems.
- Does height affect the sprinklers?
- Yes, considerably. Design has to reach the storage.
- Does wind load matter?
- In Florida, on a tall panel, yes.
- Can we decide later?
- You can and it gets expensive. Fix it early.
What we build
Distribution Warehouse
The standard big-box warehouse. Four variables decide almost the entire budget, and they interact with each other.
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Light Manufacturing
A building shaped by what happens inside it. Power, compressed air, process drainage and ventilation are the project; the shell is comparatively simple.
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Cold Storage
The most technically demanding industrial building, and the one where an ordinary warehouse approach fails outright.
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Flex & Office-Warehouse
Warehouse with an office component, built speculatively for tenants who do not exist yet. The flexibility is the product.
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Last-Mile & Delivery
A modest building on a site doing an enormous amount of work. Vehicle parking and circulation are the project.
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Cross-Dock & Truck Terminal
Freight in one side and out the other, with almost no storage. The building is narrow, the door count is high, and the yard is most of the project.
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More what decides the cost
The Slab
The floor is the element tenants judge a warehouse by, and it is produced in a single continuous operation that cannot be repeated.
Read more →
Fire Protection
The sprinkler system is determined by what is stored and how high it is stacked, which is information a speculative developer does not have.
Read more →
Docks & Truck Court
Door count, court depth and pavement design are set by the vehicles that will use them, and getting the depth wrong is not fixable.
Read more →
Next step
Find out what is actually wrong with it.
An inspection, photographs of what we found, and a written scope. If the honest answer is that it can wait another season, that is the answer you will get.