How to rent a warehouse, from requirement to move-in

Step 1: Define the requirement

Start with your operation, not with listings. Write down each of these before you search:

• Floor area: count pallet positions, staging for inbound and outbound goods, work areas and aisles, then add room to grow
• Clear height: how high you need to stack or rack, measured to the lowest obstruction
• Loading: dock-height doors for trailers, grade-level doors for vans and trucks, or both, and how many
• Power: the service your equipment needs; ask an electrician if you run compressors, welders or production machinery
• Yard: truck turning room, trailer parking, fenced outdoor storage
• Office and staff: desks, washrooms, parking for staff and visitors
• Timing: when you need to be in, and how long you want to commit

Step 2: Set a budget that includes everything

Budget for the total, not the headline rate: base rent, additional rent, utilities, GST and insurance, plus the one-time costs of the deposit, fit-out, racking and moving. What it costs to rent a warehouse walks through every line, and the monthly cost calculator turns a quote into a single monthly figure.

Landlords commonly ask for financial statements, and a newer business may be asked for a larger deposit or a personal guarantee. Have your documents ready before you make an offer; it speeds everything up.

Step 3: Choose the arrangement

A multi-year direct lease is only one way in. If your need is short, small or uncertain, another arrangement may fit better:

• Pay-per-pallet if you only need goods stored and shipped
• Shared warehouse or month-to-month if you need flexibility
• Sublease for a shorter remaining term, often in space that is already fitted out
• Direct lease for control and a longer horizon
• Industrial condo or buying a building if you would rather own

Step 4: Search, shortlist and view

Search by district as well as by building. Staff commutes, customer locations and truck routes decide where you can work efficiently. The Calgary and Edmonton pages are a starting point for each market, and the arrangement finder helps if you are still weighing options.

Shortlist spaces that meet every must-have, then view them in person. Bring a tape measure and a list; the warehouse viewing checklist covers doors, clear height, power, floors, yard and red flags. Before you get attached to a space, confirm with the municipality that your use is allowed in its land-use district.

Step 5: Make an offer to lease

The offer to lease sets out the business terms: premises, area, term, rent schedule, additional rent estimate, deposit, inducements, landlord's work, possession date and permitted use. Depending on its wording, it may become binding once accepted and its conditions are satisfied or waived, so read it as carefully as the lease and get advice.

Protect yourself with conditions that give you time to check what a viewing can't show you:

• Review and approval of the full lease
• Confirmation that your use is permitted and that you can obtain any permits and a business licence
• Inspection of building systems: heating, power, roof and doors
• Board or financing approval where your business needs it
• Insurance available at an acceptable cost for your operation

Step 6: Review the lease

The lease governs a commercial tenancy; Alberta's Residential Tenancies Act does not govern commercial space. Have a lawyer read it before you sign, and pay particular attention to these clauses:

• Permitted use: broad enough for what you do now and may do later
• Additional rent: what is included and how it is reconciled
• Repair and replacement: who pays for the roof, heaters and doors
• Assignment and subletting: you may need to move or shrink before the term ends
• Renewal and expansion rights
• Restoration at the end of the term
• Personal guarantees and what happens on default

Step 7: Permits, licence and insurance

Many business types need a municipal business licence in Calgary and Edmonton, and the municipality decides, not the landlord. If your use is a change from the last approved use, a development permit and a building permit may be needed. Racking, high storage and dangerous goods are fire-code questions, so ask before you order racking.

Arrange commercial general liability and contents insurance, name the landlord as an additional insured if the lease requires it, and send the certificate before possession.

Step 8: Possession and fit-out

Walk the space with the landlord at possession and record its condition with dated photos; it protects you at move-out. If you have a fixturing period, schedule contractors, power upgrades and racking inside it. Set up utility accounts, alarm codes and keys, update your business address, and confirm the first rent and additional-rent payments are set up correctly.

Before you sign

• A written requirement with must-haves separated from nice-to-haves
• Land use confirmed with the municipality for your operation
• Total monthly cost worked out from the quote, including GST
• Conditions in the offer for lease review, permits and inspection
• The lease reviewed by a lawyer
• An insurance quote for your actual operation
• Business licence and any permits applied for
• The condition of the space photographed at possession
• Fit-out and racking scheduled inside the fixturing period