In our segment “If I Were the Owner,” Broker, Justin White looks at a building chosen at random and makes some recommendations that might make owning or selling this building better.
If I were the owner of 21221 Wilmington Ave, Carson, I’d look at two options:
Go to a “WeWork” or Cloud Kitchens type model for your yard, or negotiate expansion with the largest company in the space to make the property more valuable because of their name brand.
Either of these solutions would work RIGHT NOW, because “yard space” may be a hotter commodity than industrial space and while some cities are regulating truck emissions, many cities are still supportive of industry.
The “WeWork” Option
This option will take a lot of work, and day to day oversight, but will provide exceptional returns and “something to do” for an investor who still wants to work. If you want to maximize cash flow, there are a lot of independently run trucks and very few places you can park your truck securely, clean, etc.
Setting up each space to rent individually, and to use some of the space to offer the supplies and services necessary, would create multiple income streams for the owner. Smaller individual space rental would produce more income than leasing to one operator.
Charging RUBS (Ratio Utility Billing System) for utilities per space and offering supplies and services would create an additional income stream. Ultimately, when an owner goes to sell the property, the leases and the tenants are the keys to maximizing the value of the property.
For an owner who is retired and wants to maximize return the best strategy is to find the biggest, best tenant you can find in the space and take the property and lease to market with as long a lease as possible. This will maximize the sale price.