A limited availability of land, high prices and a push towards more efficient storage locations are driving a demand for vertical building solutions for industrial and logistics operations, says CBRE in a new report.
'In today’s market, deliveries are expected in a smaller time frame than ever before, and with increased competition, suppliers need to meet this demand at its accelerating pace in order to succeed,' commented Machiel Wolters, head of CBRE Industrial and Logistics Research. 'Building vertical storage offers the most efficient and cost effective solution and we anticipate this trend will continue across Europe,' Wolters added.
The research shows that where land comprises over 50% of construction expenses, building vertically becomes cost effective. Developers can make savings on land prices, labour and transportation fees, especially if the alternative is searching for cheaper space further afield.
While e-commerce is being identified as one of the drivers of this trend, requiring more centrally located facilities on smaller footprints, automated order picking technologies are also increasingly being developed to match the dimensions of vertical sheds.
The report suggests that high-bay (high-ceilinged) warehouses and multi-level sheds are the two categories most likely to dominate the European logistics sector in the coming years, as market factors take hold.
