Whether you are a sole proprietor, manage a branch location, or are a major local employer, many factors impact your decision to choose a particular site to locate your business. While many might believe lease rate is a major driver, a host of other considerations drive site selection due to their broader impact on business success for manufacturers and distributors alike.
Not only are these considerations important to occupiers of space, but they are also key for investors and developers, as location criteria impact lease absorption and occupancy success of the business park or project they may contemplate.
Here are the top five, in no particular order:
- Proximity to decision makers: Particularly for companies with 20 or fewer employees, a short commute for company principals tends to be a critical factor.
- Proximity to Interstate 10 and Phoenix: Regional and national companies with a regional hub likely have a regional manager making several monthly trips to Tucson or may be delivering product to Tucson regularly. In this case, locating closely to the Interstate is key, and often a northwest Tucson location is preferred to shorten the miles and hours in transit.
- Proximity to labor: For larger companies needing access to a qualified labor pool, proximity to dense residential areas that support their operation weighs heavily in site selection.
- Image: For some, but not all companies, the quality that a building and its surrounding area projects is an important factor in their location decision.
- Good local surface road access: For the many firms that deliver product or services throughout the Tucson community, surface arterials and traffic flow can impact operating costs and location decisions.
In addition to the most critical factors of why a location within Tucson is chosen, other criteria can be important in that location decision:
- Access to the airport
- Proximity to the University
- Total occupancy costs
- Access to services – restaurants, day care
- Access to Interstate 19 to Nogales, Arizona and Sonora, Mexico
These are the trending factors my clients consider in the Tucson industrial market place over the 26 years I have specialized in industrial and business park space. Have we left important criteria off the list? We welcome your comments.
market. He has been with PICOR Commercial Real Estate for the past 26 years and is the firm’s Top Producer and a principal specializing in industrial real estate. Rob is recognized as one of only three Tucson commercial brokers who hold both the CCIM and SIOR designations. He has a high level of expertise in business park sales and leasing, as well as industrial land and building sales. He is a past president of the Southern Arizona CCIM Chapter and Southwest Region SIOR Chapter.
