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When it comes to warehouse design, it needs to protect a company’s overall investment, thus providing a safe and secure space for both the short and long-term storage of their materials and goods. Today, modern warehouses must take into consideration, all manner of things, such as the soft, hard, long-term, and overall finance costs. If you would like to find out more about the average cost to build a warehouse today (including average prices by square foot and in square metre), then please feel free to read on:
Cost to build a warehouse
What is the cost to build a warehouse? Well, when designing and building a new warehouse, the owner must put great consideration into the materials of choice. Building a warehouse is not as simple as picking a strategic location. It must be built to last! Material choices significantly impacts your overall long-term costs. To give you an idea, warehouse builders today, often do so using insulated concrete (ICF), tilt-up walls, or a streel construction. By deciding on the right material for you, you will be influencing the ultimate cost to build a warehouse.
For example: the cost to build a basic steel warehouse can start from as little as $7.50 per square foot, upwards of $40.00! The amount at which you’ll pay will depend on:
- How much preparation is involved?
- Concrete flooring options
- The overall size and complexity of the structure
- And whether or not there are any unique finishes required or requested by you
When designing a warehouse, there are other additional factors that can impact the overall cost:
- What is the building type?
- Which accessories are needed?
- Again, are there any customisations required:
For example, framing, insulation, and other basic accessories cost approximately $4 per square foot; and concrete slab foundations around $6 per square foot. All in all, you should expect customisation to account for between %15 and %20 of the warehouse constructions’ overall cost.
Average cost to build a warehouse
In the spirit of covering everything, a business owner must consider the soft, hard, long-term and finance costs of a warehouse construction (and not just the cost to build e.g., which material is being used) – Let’s take a closer look:
- The hard costs (which refer to the brick and mortar) include materials (as mentioned above), labour, the construction equipment required, the site itself, any landscaping, the various utilities, all necessary life safety systems (fire doors, hoses, etc.) HVAC systems, the grading, paving, and the plethora of other considerations. As you can expect, these all add up.
- Then there are the soft costs (referring to the red tape aspect of the construction project); i.e., any necessary permitting, insurance, engineering and architectural designs, taxes, fees for legal documents, and all other charges that are not related to the physical costs.
- The long-term costs include utilities, on-going maintenance, the general upkeep of indoor environment safety and quality features, and all of the other daily, weekly, and monthly expenses that are involved with the day-to-day management of a warehouse.
- And finally, you have the finance costs if in the event that you would like/need to obtain a construction loan to finance the project.
Now that you know what you are up against, let’s take a look at the average cost to build a warehouse in square feet:
Average cost to build 5000 sq ft warehouse
For the average cost to build a 5,000 square foot warehouse, you’ll be looking at the following approximations:
- Prefab building kits: $37,500-$42,500
- Rigid-frame warehouse: $55,000-$100,000
- Warehouse packages: $80,000-$100,000
- A finished and enclosed warehouse: $100,000-$200,000
Average cost to build 20000 sq ft warehouse
For the average cost to build a 10,000 square foot warehouse, you’ll be looking at the following approximations:
- Prefab building kits: $150,000-$170,000
- Rigid-frame warehouse: $220,000-$400,000
- Warehouse packages: $320,000-$400,000
- A finished and enclosed warehouse: $400,000-$800,000
Cost to build a warehouse per square foot
For the average cost to build a warehouse in square feet, you’ll be looking at the following approximations:
- Prefab building kits: $7.50-$8.50
- Rigid-frame warehouse: $11.00-$20.00
- Warehouse packages: $16.00-$20.00
- A finished and enclosed warehouse: $20.00-$40.00
Warehouse construction cost per square metre
The rough approximation of the warehouse construction cost per square metre can be anywhere from $300 to $1080 m2.
Conclusion
Please be aware, that these figures are as close as we can get, though are subject to vary considerably depending on where you are. In any case, there are always good deals to be found if you do your research.
The numbers that we have provided on the average warehouse construction cost per square foot, are simply here to serve as a guide for those thinking about making such an investment.
If this is the next necessary step for your business, then with a solid plan, sound legal advice, the appropriate finances in place, and quality construction and design team behind you; you will almost certainly be ready to take your business to the next level.
In conclusion, the single most important aspect of a warehouse construction project, is the company doing the heavy lifting. If you find a reputable and reliable warehouse construction company that you can trust; and who can offer you a deal that you are satisfied with, then the process becomes a great deal easier.
If you are still feeling a little overwhelmed by it all, and would like to explore this idea a little further, we recommend looking at constructions by A.M.C, or any other well-established warehouse construction company that ticks all of the boxes.
