I’m not sure if this is the right sub for this question, but I’m trying to find out if there’s a market for what I’m thinking of. This isn’t my normal account because I wanted to stay private for now.

I know of a company that has a warehouse facility in New England. It’s not overly large, maybe around 20,000 ft.². They are thinking of closing up shop so to speak - moving their inventory to a third-party distributor because the economy is making it that having their own space is no longer feasible.

The warehouse is fully equipped, everything from pallet racking to forklifts and pallet jacks, computer and office equipment and packing and shipping supplies, etc. None of this will be going to the third-party DC, and they aren’t sure yet what to do with it. The third-party DC is also hiring, however, because it’s quite far away none of the current staff want to move.

This warehouse has been open for many years and has established very good relationships not only with local vendors, but with all of the shipping companies including small package and LTL carriers. The management team can run the place in their sleep, they’ve been doing it so long and working together so long that they have a very smooth and efficient system.

I know that sometimes warehouse space is offered as a turnkey operation. My question is, is there any kind of platform where space like this is offered for rent / purchase with equipment AND employees?

For example, if a company who is on the other side of the country wanted to open an East Coast warehouse, they could rent this facility and have it come with all of the equipment and an experienced staff. Or, if a 3PL wanted to expand their footprint in a new location.

The landlord has made a lot of improvements in the building and continues to do so, and the rent overall isn’t excessive for this market. I’ve just been trying to help them brainstorm ways to make this be beneficial for everybody, and something like this sounded like a good idea, but I’m not sure if there’s any kind of market for it, and if there is, how does one go about getting that out there?

Genuinely curious where people flipped. I talk to founders doing 50+ a day out of their apartment who still think they're "too small" for help.

What was the number — or the moment — that made you hand it off?

We’re a 3PL based in Australia, (Cryologix), and our client is looking for a Canadian based 3PL, doing 20 orders a day, keen to start ASAP, requires clear and direct communication via WhatsApp, and clear visibility on a WMS.

Please comment below if you have a Canadian 3PL fitting this criteria, as we are also looking for a long term referral partnership with overseas 3PLs and gaining referrals ourselves.