Light Industrial

light
industrial

flexible Concepts

A Light Industrial property can be identified by its central location and/or excellent transport links and its flexible use concept. In addition, as well as office space, it will almost always have a significant proportion of factory buildings or production areas with above-average room height and load bearing capacity. Another central factor is the ease of access for lorries, to ensure an adequate flow of goods.

City Logistics & Production

The demand for Light Industrial properties in  urban economies is  increasing; the growth in online trading means that the “last mile” is gaining in relevance. The delivery of goods within just a few hours of ordering requires a logistics chain with warehousing space close to urban centres. They can be found far more in the inner cities and industrial areas close to the centre – as a component of multi-use concepts, summarised under the term “light industrial”.

As well as warehouse space, these properties also offer space for low-emission production, such as additive manufacturing. The decisive factor is that light industrial properties can be used flexibly and rearranged. They are therefore different to traditional logistics and industrial properties, which were designed for a specific  use or an individual company.

Development of existing properties

A major advantage of the existing light industrial properties is their location. As a result of the expansion of towns and cities over the last few decades, many industrial areas which were once located on the edges of the conurbations, were gradually integrated into the urban developments. Across the world, former industrial complexes dating back to the industrial revolution are now to be found in the middle of urban town centre locations. The associated connections to public transport and proximity to the homes of employees are two important advantages resulting from this. Industrial properties with office or warehouse space and potential for conversion in such urban locations are premium properties for light industrial specialists.

Experienced players on the market such as INBRIGHT can deal with the special challenges of existing properties such as the complex framework conditions regarding planning and implementation as well as how to handle any potential harmful substances and contaminated soils. Where this is a possibility, new build potential is also achieved, in addition to the extensive redevelopment of the existing properties.

Investors are on the look-out For light industrial properties

The light industrial asset class is becoming increasingly popular with institutional investors owing to the attractive risk-profit ratio. The flexibility of property use and a normally high granularity of rental income ensures a wider distribution of risk than that possible in other property asset classes.

One challenge for Light Industrial project developers is balancing cost efficiency on the one hand and compliance with ESG criteria on the other hand. You can find out more about how INBRIGHT manages ESG here.

Fixed Bottom Links

How we derived Our ESG strategy

In an initial workshop, we first developed core values for our company. The development of an ESG strategy for INBRIGHT is based on this: main topics were determined and validated based on a fixed evaluation scheme in a two-day workshop. On the one hand, the topics result from the requirements of national and international industry standards and frameworks, such as DGNB, LEED and GRESB, and, on the other hand, from general sustainability standards, such as the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) and the Sustainable Development Goals. The list of topics was ultimately supplemented by specific industry requirements from the Light Industrial area. The collection of topics was classified based on a fixed evaluation scheme in a materiality assessment using a two-dimensional matrix with the dimensions “Relevance to business” and “Effects on the government and society”. The topics with the highest values in both dimensions, and hence being above the materiality threshold, form the basis of our ESG strategy or our sustainability programme. The materiality assessment is revalidated annually with the participation of internal and external stakeholders and the assessment of the topics is adjusted accordingly. 

Our Contribution to the sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations

The 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were adopted in 2015 by the member states of the United Nations.
They set a road map for the sustainable social, economic and environmental transformation of our world by 2030.

The SDGs also offer us as a company a framework for contributing to a positive future for the world. Our ESG strategy is our contribution to tackling the greatest worldwide challenges, especially to achieving the following SDGs:

We respect diversity, a fair pay and participation structure and the indivdual promotion of out team members, thus contributing to equality of opportunity.

Economic success and a profitable investment strategy are for us the foundation for securing attractive jobs in the long term and contributing to healthy economic growth.

We promote a low-emission infrastructure by locating our properties close to existing residential areas, offering our tenants access to public transport. We modernise and reposition old industrial and commercial properties to make their use lower in emissions, cleaner and more flexible, thus making a noticeable contribution to sustainable industry.

When building and repairing our properties, we are careful to use innovative and engery-efficient systems so as to aviod unnecessary environmental pressures on the surrounding area. Wherever compatible with legislation and the comfort demands of our users, we reduce technical equipment to a minimum to promote the longevity of our properties.

We align both our company and our property projects to ESG criteria. This includes planning our properties in a way that is sparing of resources and ensures them a long useful life with maximum flexibility. We also maintain open interactions in the spirit of partnership with all those involved – from planners and building firms through to the eventual user.

Reducing emissions, especially CO2 emissions, has a high priority for us within our ESG strategy. We as a company aim to reduce and compensate for our CO2 footprint to make the most effective contribution we can to protecting the climate.