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Walter Taylor — A Wattlestone Company

A facility built around your operation

Build-to-suit warehouses & facilities in Brisbane

Direct answer

Build-to-suit (or develop-to-suit) is where a property partner funds, acquires and builds a facility around your operational requirements, then leases it to you long term. You get a purpose-built premises without tying up capital in land and construction.

When nothing on the market actually fits — the wrong size, the wrong height, the wrong location, the wrong yard — the answer isn't to compromise. It's to have the right building created and lease it. That's build-to-suit.

Key facts

Also called
Develop-to-suit · pre-commitment
Best for
Operations no existing building fits
You provide
The operational brief
We provide
Land, funding, build, long-term hold
Your capital
Stays in your business
Tenure
Long-term lease, agreed up front

What it is

You specify what your operation needs. We fund the land and the construction, manage the development, and deliver a purpose-built facility — then hold it and lease it to you on a long-term basis.

You get exactly the building you'd have built for yourself, without the capital, the debt or the development risk sitting on your balance sheet.

The process

  1. 1Brief. You tell us the operational requirement — size, clearances, power, yard, hardstand, location, timing.
  2. 2Feasibility & site. We find or use suitable land and test what's achievable, then come back with a clear proposal.
  3. 3Design & pre-commitment. We design to your brief and agree the lease (a pre-commitment) so terms are locked before a sod is turned.
  4. 4Build. We fund and manage construction and keep you across progress to handover.
  5. 5Move in and grow. You take occupation on the agreed lease; we hold the asset and remain your partner for the long term.

What you specify vs what we handle

  • You specify — The operational requirement — what the building has to do for your business.
  • We handle — Land, funding, design management, planning, construction and delivery — and we carry the development risk.

Timeframes and realities

Build-to-suit isn't instant — land, design, approvals and construction take time, and being honest about that up front is part of doing it well. The reward for that lead time is a building that fits your operation precisely, on long, secure tenure, with none of your capital locked up.

Starting the conversation early — well before your current premises become the constraint — is what makes the timeline work in your favour.

Existing-facility repositioning and expansion

Build-to-suit isn't only greenfield. If your current site can be extended, reconfigured or repositioned to buy you more runway, that can be the faster and better answer — and it's the kind of thing a long-term owner is glad to invest in.

Common questions

What's the difference between build-to-suit and develop-to-suit?
They mean essentially the same thing — a facility funded, built and owned by a property partner and leased to the business it was built for. 'Develop-to-suit' simply emphasises that we manage the whole development.
What is a pre-commitment lease?
It's a lease agreed before the building is built. You commit to leasing the completed facility on agreed terms, which lets us proceed with funding and construction knowing the building has a home.
Do I tie up any capital?
No. We fund the land and construction and carry the development risk. You lease the finished building, so your capital stays in your business rather than in bricks and mortar.
Can you extend or reposition our existing building instead?
Often, yes — and sometimes that's the better answer. As a long-term owner we're happy to invest capex into expanding or reconfiguring a site to give you more runway.

Keep reading

Outgrowing your premisesFind industrial propertySale & leaseback

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Tell us your requirement

Talk to us directly about the premises your business needs — to outgrow, to free up capital, or to have built. One conversation with the people who decide.

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We work with agents. If you’re an agent with a tenant requirement you can’t place or an off-market opportunity, bring it to us.