Hardstand & land ready for bulk
Hardstand/Greenfield storage for lease: Hardstand to suit vehicular, equipment, container storage etc
Brown Hill, Victoria
Ballarat Western Victoria, Greenfield site for container or equipment storage
Hardstand/Greenfield storage for lease: Hardstand to suit vehicular, equipment, container storage etc
Cnr Salesyards rd & Newell Hwy, Parkes NSW
Parkes Western NSW, Greenfield site for container or equipment storage
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Hardstand & shipping container storage– (almost) everything you need to know
Let’s start at the beginning: what is hardstand storage?
Hardstand storage is a type of commercial real estate, like warehouses and offices. ’Hardstand’ means a constructed surface built over land that is specifically designed for loading and storing goods. This constructed surface is usually hardened concrete, but can also be asphalt or crushed rock.
Hardstand can be leased, licensed or purchased. Containers can be leased or purchased. Sometimes container manufacturers provide a leaseback arrangement to approved customers. Recent advances in the design and functionality of shipping containers mean that hardstand is suitable for many new uses.
The compelling advantage of hardstand storage is its low-cost—it’s convenient, cheap storage space.
There are a few common types of hardstand storage
A ‘Greenfield’ or ‘Greenfield site’ is a property that would be suitable for hardstand storage, but isn’t covered by a constructed surface. It’s ideal for the storage of portables like machinery, cars, boats, caravans etc. Shipping containers can also be stored on Greenfield sites, however the container must be able to prevent ground moisture penetration.
Standard hardstand, as pictured below, is the most common kind of hardstand. Standard hardstand is covered by one lease, so is exclusive to one tenant.
Managed hardstand is normally non-exclusive to the user—this means it’s shared with other storers—and usually has an onsite manager and/or comprehensive security. This type of hardstand can be integrated into a self-storage complex, and can be either standard or Greenfield.
Hardstand storage is used by many different types of industries
Hardstand storage is used world-wide by many different types of companies because it’s quick to set up and easy to organise.
Hardstand storage is often urgently needed by retailers, wholesalers and importers whose supply chains have been temporarily disrupted.
Here are a few examples of users of hardstand storage, but there are many more.
Vehicle, boat and caravan wholesaler and retailers.
Equipment manufacturers, importers and wholesalers.
Emergency and not-for-profit organisations, such as the SES.
Receivers and managers for insolvency or distressed storage.
Retailers wanting quick distribution for pop-ups and special sales.
Importers using shipping containers.
Hardstand storage is suitable for different types of storage containers.
Standard Shipping Container
Bulk Goods Container
Car Carriers
Cargo (with internal compartments)
Double-door Shipping Container
Drums
Flat Rack
Open-top Shipping Container
Half-height
Insulated
Open Side
Refridgerated
Special Purpose Shipping Container
Tank
Tunnel Container
Shipping containers are one of the most common items stored on hardstand
Shipping containers began to be used in the U.S.A. in the early 1960s. The stacking abilities provided terrific economies of scale for transportation of supplies on ships. The ships HMM Algeciras, HMM Copenhagen, HMM Dublin and HMM Gdansk, which tie for the title of the largest container ship in the world, can carry almost 24,000 20ft-containers.
These days, containers are used world-wide, without actually being shipped. They’re also used for applications other than storage; their compactness, strength and stacking ability mean they make fantastic houses, cafes, emergency shelters and nurseries.
Hardstand as an investment
In property investments, one thing is always true: it’s the land itself that appreciates or go up in value, and it’s the improvements, like buildings, that depreciate, or go down in value. This is good news for investing in hardstand storage—there’s almost nothing to depreciate, except for the concrete surface.
When a hardstand site is leased for shipping or stackable container storage, it’s similar to a multi-storey building. More lettable area is created by each layer of stacked container.
Hardstand offers compelling value for investors, as compared with traditional warehousing. Many users of hardstand require long-term leases, and this is also great for investors.
I can’t think of a better investment than hardstand storage. I see it as comparable to where the self-storage industry was thirty years ago—ready to rocket.
Hardstand: Covid19 and beyond
in 2020, the world experienced unprecedented changes to consumer behaviour and retail networks because of the Covid19 pandemic. This caused seismic disruption to established supply chains in a host of industries.
This disruption has caused many businesses to seek urgent storage solutions for raw materials, products at various stages of production and end products. Service industries like airlines and food services also needed storage for equipment, shop fittings and office fit outs. Infrastructure builds by state governments, designed as economic stimulus, need sites for equipment and building supplies storage, and landing sites to manage and facilitate major construction. We are also witnessing exponential growth in a whole new industry: sustainable power generation. This will lead to increased storage requirements for machinery and battery storage, in particular. The proliferation of household solar panels feeding greater energy into the grid and starting to overwhelm it, it is easy to see that the grid managers will need to start stabilising the grid with more and more battery storage. I envisage these sites will be setup similar to this Tesla battery storage facility being built in Mooroolbool Victoria
Growth in the industry
We are also witnessing exponential growth in a whole new industry: sustainable power generation. This will lead to increased storage requirements for machinery and battery storage, in particular.
The proliferation of household solar panels feeding greater energy into the grid and starting to overwhelm it, it is easy to see that the grid managers will need to start stabilising the grid with more and more battery storage.
I envisage these sites will be setup similar to this Tesla battery storage facility being built in Mooroolbool Victoria.
This disruption, though, is only a taste of the uncertainty that economies will face in the years and decades ahead. The effect of all this disruption will be an increased requirement for storage of all types.
Choosing the right hardstand for any purpose
Hardstand can offer a compelling and exciting storage solution for many different types of containers.
Hardstand storage is incredibly cost-effective when compared to other forms of storage. Hardstand rentals can be 10% of the cost of a similar area of warehousing space.
Hardstand has its constraints, though. Hardstand storage is, in most part, external space and exposed to weather, anything else that is airborne like dust, insects, and extremes of temperature. This may be fine for machinery, vehicles or equipment, but it won’t work so well for perishables or stock which is susceptible to environmental damage.
Before choosing a hardstand storage site, it’s important to understand the type of concrete construction and the load-carrying capacity of the hardstand itself. The hardstand needs to accommodate forklifts and other heavy vehicles as well numerous shipping containers at any one time. Isolation and expansion joints, which allow movement of the slab itself, will also enter the calculations. When choosing any kind of real estate, location is paramount, and hardstand is no exception. Access to major roads, ports or rail lines is often required, as is being strategically located to the containers’ point-of-origin and destination.
Box Commercial are storage specialists
We’ve been selling storage properties since 1992, and we can offer sites for the bulk storage of almost anything.
As long as you can park it or drop it onto a site, we can help you.
As estate agents, we’ve reached out to owners of hardstand and storage-suitable Greenfield sites across Australia. You can check out our current listing above, but this is only a sample from our pool of sites. Sites can be available quickly if need be.
Please call us to discuss your storage requirements.
