The answers library
Industrial property & leasing, in plain English
Direct answer
70straight answers to the questions business owners actually ask about premises — sale & leaseback, build-to-suit, leases and rent reviews, buildings and planning, tax and deal mechanics, and the option most don’t know exists: approaching a long-term owner directly.
Fundamentals
Sale and leaseback
What is a sale and leaseback?
Build-to-suit (develop-to-suit)
What is build-to-suit (or develop-to-suit)?
Market rent review
What is a market rent review?
Rent ratchet clause
What is a rent ratchet clause?
Outgoings (net vs gross lease)
What are outgoings, and what's the difference between a net and gross lease?
Make-good
What is a make-good clause in a commercial lease?
Lease incentive
What is a lease incentive?
WALE
What is WALE (weighted average lease expiry)?
Pre-commitment lease
What is a pre-commitment lease?
Owner-occupier vs investor
What's the difference between an owner-occupier and a property investor?
Foreign land tax (Qld)
How does Queensland foreign land tax affect overseas property owners?
Long-term institutional landlord
What is a long-term institutional landlord?
Releasing capital from property
How can I release the capital tied up in my business property?
Cap rate / yield
What is a cap rate (or yield) in property, in plain English?
Industrial vs office lease
How does an industrial lease differ from an office lease?
Sell and stay as tenant
Can I sell my premises and stay on as the tenant?
Freeing up cash
How do I free up cash in my business?
Releasing equity from property
How do I release the equity in my commercial property?
Raising capital without debt
How can I raise capital for my business without taking on more debt?
Is a sale & leaseback worth it?
Is a sale and leaseback a good idea?
How much capital you can unlock
How much capital can I unlock from my business premises?
Sale & leaseback vs refinancing
Sale and leaseback vs refinancing — which frees up more capital?
Sale & leaseback timeline
How long does a sale and leaseback take?
Tenant covenant (covenant strength)
What is tenant covenant strength?
Setting the leaseback rent
How is the rent set in a sale and leaseback?
Leases & occupancy
Agreement for lease (AFL)
What is an agreement for lease?
Assignment vs subleasing
What's the difference between assigning a lease and subleasing it?
Option to renew
How does an option to renew work in a commercial lease?
Overholding (holding over)
What happens if I stay in a commercial lease after it expires?
Permitted use
Why does the permitted use clause matter in an industrial lease?
CPI vs fixed vs market rent reviews
What's the difference between CPI, fixed and market rent reviews?
Lease security (bank guarantees & deposits)
What security do landlords typically require in an industrial lease?
Heads of agreement (commercial lease)
What is a heads of agreement in a commercial lease negotiation?
Industrial lease key terms
What are the terms that matter most in an industrial lease?
Early lease surrender
Can I end a commercial lease before it expires?
Relocating business premises
What's the checklist for relocating a business to new premises?
Lease registration (Qld)
Do commercial leases need to be registered on title in Queensland?
Land tax and outgoings (Qld)
How does land tax interact with outgoings in a Queensland commercial lease?
Retail Shop Leases Act and industrial premises (Qld)
Does the Queensland Retail Shop Leases Act apply to an industrial lease?
Signing your first industrial lease
What should a growing business expect when signing its first warehouse lease?
Buildings, planning & value
Hardstand
What is hardstand, and why does it matter for industrial property?
Warehouse clearance height
What is clearance height in a warehouse, and why does it matter?
B-double truck access
What does B-double truck access mean for an industrial site?
ESFR fire sprinklers
What are ESFR sprinklers, and why do they matter in warehouses?
Office-to-warehouse ratio
What is the office-to-warehouse ratio in an industrial building?
Site cover
What is site cover, and why does it matter for industrial property?
Industrial zoning (Brisbane/SEQ)
How does industrial zoning work in Brisbane and South-East Queensland?
Development approval (Qld)
What is a development approval for an industrial project in Queensland?
Warehouse types
What are the main types of industrial warehouse buildings?
Drivers of industrial rent
What drives industrial rents?
Valuation methods (industrial property)
How is industrial property valued?
Depreciation (industrial property)
How does depreciation work for industrial property?
GST on commercial property
How does GST apply to commercial property transactions?
Transfer duty (stamp duty) — Qld commercial property
How does stamp duty (transfer duty) apply to commercial property in Queensland?
Solar on industrial roofs
Does solar make sense on a large industrial roof?
Deals, tax & structures
Marketing campaign vs direct sale
What's the difference between an auction/EOI campaign and a direct off-market sale?
Selling a tenanted property
What's involved in selling an industrial property with a tenant already in place?
Vendor due diligence
What does a vendor need to prepare before selling an industrial property?
Commercial property settlement (Qld)
What are the stages between signing a contract and settlement for a Queensland commercial property?
Heads of agreement
What is a heads of agreement in a property sale, and is it binding?
Exclusivity & confidentiality
How do exclusivity periods and confidentiality work in an off-market property deal?
Sale & leaseback tax considerations
What are the tax considerations in a sale and leaseback?
Sale & leaseback accounting treatment
How does a sale and leaseback show up in a company's accounts?
Sale & leaseback risks
What are the risks of a sale and leaseback?
Choosing a leaseback counterparty
What should I look for in a sale and leaseback buyer?
Portfolio sale & leaseback
Can a business with several properties do a sale and leaseback across the whole portfolio?
Sale & leaseback vs selling and relocating
Should I do a sale and leaseback, or sell my premises and relocate the business?
Leaseback lease terms
What does the lease typically cover in a sale and leaseback?
Succession planning & business premises
How does the family business premises fit into succession planning?
Off-market sale
What is an off-market sale?
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