Small suites lease fast, and a 7,500 square foot first suite is exactly the size many Colorado tenants want. Evans has a set of three industrial buildings on Brantner Road, built in 2025 near Highways 85 and 34 and I-25, with a first suite that size available for lease or sale. Parker's Compark470 adds two shallow-bay industrial buildings totaling about 133,133 square feet near E-470 and I-25. Shallow-bay product is where trades, e-commerce brands, labs and light assembly find space they can afford.
We build flex and light industrial buildings for developers who want a repeatable product and tenants who want a building that works on day one. The core ingredients are straightforward: 24 to 28 feet of clear height, a mix of dock-high and grade-level doors, a front office zone, and parking ratios that suit trades and visitors. The details, such as demising walls, separate utility meters and per-suite HVAC, are where profitable flex lives.
If your program is closer to a big box, see our warehouse page. If it is production-heavy, start with manufacturing plant.
What goes into a flex building
A flex building is a row of bays, usually 20 to 30 feet wide and 60 to 100 feet deep, under a common roof. Each bay needs its own door, power, domestic water, restroom and HVAC. We frame the building so walls between suites are rated, so the fire protection supports the tenant mix and so utilities enter at the bay without crossing neighbors.
Front glass and a clean entry give tenants a place to meet customers. Rear-load or side-load docks serve the ones who ship. Structure can be tilt-wall, metal or a hybrid, and we pick based on schedule and cost. Common-area work, such as site lighting, trash enclosures and landscaping, are part of the package, and we coordinate them with the site utilities package so the suites open together.
Tenants who rent this product
Flex works for a wide mix: contractors with a shop and office, e-commerce brands storing and shipping, labs and light manufacturers, breweries and food producers, and service companies with vehicles. Westminster's economic profile counts 3,582,581 rentable square feet of industrial and flex space at a 2.4 percent vacancy rate, showing how tight the category can be.
Many of these tenants also look for office-heavy space, which is why we sometimes pair flex with an office building program on the same site. Others need a building closer to a pre-engineered metal building with a simple frame and fast delivery.
Where flex is getting built
Commerce Yards at 96th Avenue and Heinz Way is a 466,000 square foot, three-building industrial project with rail access in an Enterprise Zone, with construction set for April 2026 through May 2027. Thornton's 25 Commerce Park is a three-building, 453,550 square foot industrial project on 35.6 acres at East 152nd Avenue and Washington Street. Boulder's Flatiron Park is a master-planned business park of about 200 acres with about 2.3 million rentable square feet and more than 100 companies.
The older parts of the metro matter too. Sheridan's business park beside the South Platte River, includes auto salvage, a recycling center, a lumber yard, auto repair and light manufacturing, and the city planned environmental assessments of its parcels through EPA's Targeted Brownfield Assessment program. Redevelopment of that kind of ground requires environmental due diligence before anything else, including a look at past uses, soil and groundwater, and a cost estimate for any cleanup that would fall on the new building. Small-bay product can be a good fit for such parcels because the footprint is modest and the tenants are local, but only if the site work is priced honestly before the land is bought.
Cost drivers for flex
Flex budgets are won or lost on repeatability. Bay count, bay depth, door count and the amount of finished office per suite drive cost. Site work is another big item, because small-bay buildings need more parking and more landscaping per square foot of building than a big box does.
We price the shell and the tenant-improvement allowance separately, so you can decide how much to finish up front. A warm shell lets tenants customize, while a finished suite leases faster but costs more. Our spec warehouse shell pricing helps developers decide where to land.
Keeping lease-up on schedule
Lease-up depends on delivery, so we sequence the building to open suites in order. Shell and demising first, then MEP rough-in, then tenant improvements as leases sign. We keep utility and meter details flexible so a tenant can grow into the next bay.
We also ask the questions that save money later. What truck will deliver to this suite? Does the tenant need a 12-by-14 door or a dock-high door? Will the suite need an extra restroom or a mezzanine? Answering those before drawings are final avoids change orders and keeps the pro forma intact.
Metro submarkets we know
Our flex work focuses on the north and south metro corridors. Look at Westminster for I-25 and US-36 access, and at Parker for E-470 and I-25 south. Each has its own utility, impact fee and code posture, and we check them before we draw.
If you are a building products distributor looking for a showroom and yard, we can pair a flex building with outdoor storage. Tell us the mix and we will lay out the site.
Plan a flex project
Send us the site, the target suite size and the tenant mix. We will return a bay layout, a budget with warm-shell and finished-suite options, and a lease-up schedule.
Common Questions
What clear height is right for flex?
Most flex buildings run about 24 to 28 feet clear, which fits trades, e-commerce and light assembly. Taller clear height raises cost without always raising rent for small tenants. We price both options so you can compare.
How many dock doors does a flex building need?
A common approach is a mix of dock-high doors at the rear and grade-level doors for vans and trucks. The ratio depends on your tenant mix. We lay out the doors and truck apron so any suite can serve its tenant.
Can you build in a former industrial area with environmental history?
Yes, but the due diligence comes first. Brownfield sites like Sheridan's riverside business park require environmental assessments before design. We coordinate with your consultants so remediation, if needed, is scheduled and priced.
Should we build a warm shell or finish the suites?
Warm shells give tenants control and reduce your upfront cost. Finished suites lease faster to small tenants who want move-in readiness. Many developers build a mix and finish the first few suites as models.
Do flex buildings need fire sprinklers?
Typically yes, and the design depends on storage and use. Demising walls and sprinkler coverage are coordinated with the local fire marshal.
