Given the lack of space and the high demand of electronic commerce, vertical warehouses have emerged as the most innovative trend in the industrial real estate sector.

For years, there has been a discussion about the height of storage buildings, since there is no fully vertical occupancy standard. However, it is possible to use different technologies to achieve warehouses with the capacity to stow beyond six or seven levels through robotic systems, said Erick Brunet, director of transactions at real estate services firm Newmark.

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These vertical spaces are common in Asia and parts of Europe, where higher land prices and population densities have forced developers to build upwards.

In Mexico, they are little known, while in the United States, increased demand for e-commerce and reduced delivery times have prompted warehouse builders to establish last-mile shared spaces in densely populated metropolitan areas.

One way to resolve this demand is to reconvert old class B or C spaces within cities. Brunet considered that aiming for vertical development gives the probability of fitting within the city and creating more profitable real estate.

In addition, due to the trend of vertical and robotized last-mile properties, it is expected that there will be more and more coworking-type spaces for the distribution and storage of merchandise.

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For the moment, Brunet warned that, although it is already physically possible to build a vertical warehouse, for now it is too expensive, because the racking system (organization) that is required is not yet mass-produced. This raises the cost of designing the management software, which rises to double the occupancy (85%) of a traditional model.

"In Mexico and Latin America we will not yet see them in the short term, but it is a trend, the most innovative that has occurred in recent years, in the industrial logistics market. 

Vertical warehouses are the future of logistics and distribution, its implementation will represent a transformation of the supply chains”, indicated the director of transactions of Newmark.

In Solili you can consult industrial warehouses available in Tultitlan, Tepotzotlan and Cuautitlan 

Original note