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dizposition

Sell your manufacturing & logistics facility

Production plants, distribution boxes, and everything in between. Leased, owner-occupied, or dark, with a process history in the ground.

Manufacturing & Logistics Facility at a glance

Typical deal size
$3M – $40M
Lease structure
NNN, or owner-occupied sale-leaseback
Typical term
10–20 years
Escalations
2–3% annually
AmazonGXO LogisticsDHL Supply ChainFedExUPSRegional and private manufacturers

Overview

What manufacturing & logistics facilities are really worth

Our read

The first question on any manufacturing or logistics building is how much of it belongs to the tenant's process. A modern distribution box is close to a commodity — clear height, column spacing, docks, and truck court decide its value, and a long list of users can occupy it. A production plant built around one company's line is a different asset, valuable to its occupant and expensive for anyone else.

That distinction cuts both ways. Process-heavy plants tend to have stickier tenants than their lease terms suggest, because moving a working production line is costly and risky. But when they go dark, the specialized improvements stop being assets and start being removal costs, and the building competes on whatever generic attributes are left.

Two things have shifted value in this sector. Power capacity has become scarce and slow to add, which has made older plants with heavy electrical service more interesting than their specs suggest. And the environmental history of what was manufactured on a site is now underwritten by every serious buyer, so a clean, documented file is worth real money.

Valuation

How we underwrite it

The method

We underwrite the building's generic utility first — clear height, column grid, dock count, truck court, power, and location — because that is what supports the value if the current tenant leaves. Tenant-specific improvements are valued at what the next user would pay for them, which is often less than nothing.

The tenant gets read against the building. A plant that is central to the operator's network renews; a satellite facility in a consolidation is at risk regardless of the credit behind the lease. We look at what the plant makes, how much capital the tenant has put into it, and how hard it would be to move.

Environmental exposure is priced, not avoided. We take the process history seriously, scope testing to what was actually done in the building, and treat known contamination with a plan as a cost rather than a deal-breaker.

For owner-occupied plants, the lease is ours to write with you. Term, rent, and maintenance obligations are set around what the business can carry, which is usually a better outcome than the market lease a third-party investor would insist on.

What moves the number

  1. 01How much of the building is the tenant's process versus generic box — cranes, pits, and heavy power help the incumbent and narrow the next user
  2. 02Clear height, column spacing, and truck court depth, which decide whether the building competes for modern distribution users if the manufacturer leaves
  3. 03Electrical service, gas, and water capacity at the site, which are expensive and slow to add and increasingly the reason a user picks one building over another
  4. 04Credit and operating health of the tenant, read alongside how mission-critical this plant is to its network
  5. 05Environmental history of the process, since what was made in the building determines what may be in the ground under it
  6. 06Labor shed, highway access, and rail where it matters — the location attributes a replacement user will underwrite before the building itself

Capital markets today

10-yr Treasury
5.24%
4.12% a year ago
SOFR
3.87%
4.2% a year ago
30-yr mortgage
7.28%
6.3% a year ago
CRE loan delinquency
1.53%
1.57% a year ago
CRE prices, YoY
6.58%
-2.7% a year ago

Sources: FRED DGS10, 2026-10-01 · FRED SOFR, 2026-10-01 · FRED MORTGAGE30US, 2026-10-01 · FRED DRCRELEXFACBS, 2026-04-01 · FRED COMREPUSQ159N, 2026-01-01

Diligence

What a buyer actually looks at in a manufacturing & logistics facility

  1. Check 01

    Phase I and, where the process warrants it, Phase II environmental

    Plating, finishing, degreasing, and machining operations leave solvents and metals behind. What was made in the building is the single best predictor of what is under it, and buyers price the history, not the current tenant.

  2. Check 02

    Electrical service, transformer ownership, and utility capacity letters

    Power is now the scarcest feature of industrial real estate. Whether the service is owned by the utility or the landlord, and whether more is available, materially affects both renewal odds and backfill.

  3. Check 03

    Building specifications — clear height, column grid, dock count, floor slab, truck court

    These decide whether the building can compete for a non-manufacturing user if the tenant leaves. A low-clear plant with a shallow court competes with a much smaller pool.

  4. Check 04

    Tenant-installed improvements and removal obligations

    Cranes, pits, process piping, and mezzanines can be an asset or a demolition liability. The lease should say who owns them and who removes them, and often it does not.

  5. Check 05

    Lease terms on roof, structure, and capital replacement

    Older industrial leases are frequently NN rather than absolute NNN. A roof or HVAC replacement left with the landlord on a large building is a real number.

  6. Check 06

    Zoning, permits, and air or wastewater discharge permits

    Some manufacturing uses operate under permits that are site-specific and hard to reissue. That can anchor a tenant in place, and it can also restrict who else can use the building.

Backfill risk

What happens if the tenant leaves

The tenant-goes-dark scenario

Manufacturing and logistics buildings sit on a spectrum, and where a building falls on it decides almost everything about backfill. At one end is a modern distribution box — high clear, wide column spacing, deep truck courts — that almost any industrial user can occupy with a change of racking. At the other is a plant built around one company's process, with cranes, pits, heavy power, and a layout that makes sense only for what it was built to make.

The process-heavy plant is the stickier tenancy and the harder backfill. Manufacturers rarely relocate a working line because the move is expensive, disruptive, and risky, which is why renewals on true production facilities are often stronger than the lease term implies. When a plant does go dark, though, the pool of users who want that specific infrastructure is small, and the rest of the market sees removal cost.

Power has changed the math on older buildings. Heavy electrical service that was once just part of a factory is now scarce and slow to obtain, and a dated plant with substantial capacity can attract users who would otherwise never look at its clear height.

The environmental file governs the timeline. A dark plant with an unknown process history sits until someone pays to find out what is in the ground, and that cost and delay show up in the price whether or not anything is found.

Why this matters to you

Every buyer prices the tenant-goes-dark scenario, whether or not they say so out loud. It is the largest hidden input into the cap rate you get offered.

Understanding it before you go to market is the difference between negotiating and being negotiated with.

Who sells to us

Situations we see most often

  • Owner-operator selling the real estate to fund equipment, expansion, or an acquisition while staying in the building
  • Family-owned manufacturer selling the business, with the buyer not wanting the real estate
  • Investor holding a single-tenant plant with shortening term and an uncertain renewal
  • Owner of a dark or partially dark plant after a consolidation or relocation
  • Estate or retiring owner holding an older facility the next generation does not want to manage

Buy box

What we buy

  1. 01Manufacturing and logistics facilities, $3M to $40M
  2. 02Owner-occupied sale-leasebacks
  3. 03Single-tenant plants with short remaining term
  4. 04Dark or partially vacant facilities with environmental history

Process

How selling to Dizposition works

The full process
  1. Day 0

    01

    Send us the property

    Address, asset type, and the lease if there is one. That is enough for us to start.

  2. 02

    We underwrite it

    Our underwriting runs the income against current market pricing and the cost of capital. No lowball anchor.

  3. 10 minutes

    03

    You get a firm offer

    In 10 minutes, with the math shown. You will know exactly how we got there.

  4. As fast as 30 days

    04

    Close on your timeline

    As fast as 30 days, or as slow as you need. We are the principal, so the date is yours.

FAQ

Selling a manufacturing & logistics facility

I own the plant and run the business in it. Can I sell the building and stay?

Yes. A sale-leaseback is the most common way manufacturers pull capital out of real estate to put it into equipment, people, or an acquisition. You sign a long-term lease and keep operating, and the lease is structured around what your business actually needs.

My building has cranes and pits built for our process. Does that add value?

To the right user, yes. To most users, those are removal costs. We look at whether the improvements are likely to be reused or demolished and price them accordingly, rather than paying full value for infrastructure the next occupant will rip out.

We have an older plant with a lot of power. Does that matter if the building itself is dated?

It matters a great deal. Heavy electrical service is one of the hardest things to add to an industrial site, and it can make a dated building competitive for users who care more about power than clear height. Send whatever you have on the service size and transformer ownership.

The building has decades of manufacturing history. Will environmental issues kill the sale?

Usually not. They change the price and the process, not whether there is a deal. Known contamination with a remediation plan is far easier to underwrite than an unknown history. Tell us what was made there and we will tell you what testing makes sense.

How long does it take to sell a commercial property to Dizposition?

You get a firm written offer within 10 minutes of sending us the property. If you accept, you can close in as little as 30 days — most of that is title work and your own timeline. There is no listing period, no marketing, and no waiting on a buyer's financing contingency.

Can I sell my property as-is?

Yes. We are the buyer, so there is no lender requiring repairs and no inspection contingency to renegotiate against you. Deferred maintenance, a failing roof, an aging tank system — we price it into the offer rather than asking you to fix it first.

Can I sell with a tenant in place?

Yes, and in most cases a tenant makes the property more valuable to us, not less. We will ask for the lease, a rent roll, and any estoppel certificates. You do not need to deliver the property vacant.

What if my lease is short-term or about to expire?

Short remaining term is one of the main reasons owners come to us. A conventional buyer needs lease term to get financing, which is why short-dated assets sit on the market. We underwrite the real estate and the backfill prospects rather than the remaining term alone.

What if the property is vacant?

We buy vacant assets. Pricing shifts from an income approach to what the building and land are worth to the next user, which is a different calculation — but it is one we do routinely rather than one that disqualifies the property.

Do I need a broker to sell to you?

No. We buy directly, and there is no commission because there is nothing to market. If you already have a broker, we will pay them. Selling without one saves the commission, but you should understand you are also giving up price discovery — a broker's job is to find out whether someone will pay more than we will.

What documents do I need to get an offer?

The address and the lease are enough to start. To finalize, we will want the rent roll, the last two years of operating statements, the title commitment, any existing survey, and any environmental reports you already have. You do not need an appraisal or a broker package.

How do you determine your offer?

We underwrite in-place income against what the space would re-lease for, adjust for capital needs and any environmental tail, and apply a cap rate supported by comparable transactions. We show you the inputs. If you disagree with an assumption, we would rather argue about the assumption than about the number.

What are typical seller closing costs?

Title and escrow fees, any transfer or recording tax owed in your state, prorated property taxes, and payoff of any existing debt. Because we are the buyer, there is no commission and no marketing cost. Transfer tax varies significantly by state and is often the largest single line.

Will I owe capital gains tax when I sell?

Usually yes, on the gain above your adjusted basis, and depreciation recapture is taxed separately from appreciation. State treatment varies. This is a question for your CPA before you sign, not after — the structure of the sale can change the answer.

Can I do a 1031 exchange?

Yes. A 1031 exchange lets you defer federal capital gains by reinvesting in like-kind property, subject to a 45-day identification window and a 180-day closing window from the date you sell. You must have a qualified intermediary in place before closing — it cannot be arranged afterward. Most states conform to federal treatment, but a few do not.

Can I sell if I am behind on payments or facing foreclosure?

Yes, and speed is the reason to move early rather than late. We can close on a defined date, which is what a lender or a receiver generally needs to see. Send us the payoff figure and any notices you have received.

Can I sell a property I inherited or that is in probate?

Yes. Probate sales take longer because the court timeline governs, not ours, and multiple heirs need to agree on the price before anything can close. We are used to working around both. Inherited property also generally receives a stepped-up basis, which can change the tax math substantially.

Is there any cost or obligation to get an offer?

None. There is no fee, no listing agreement, and no obligation to accept. If our number does not work for you, you keep the underwriting we showed you and we part ways.

Markets

Top markets we buy manufacturing & logistics facilities in

10-minute offer

Ready to sell your manufacturing & logistics facility?

Send us the property and the lease. You'll have a firm offer, with the math shown, in 10 minutes.