Having worked in the industry for over 20 years, William Cheung has extensive experience in all aspects of cadastral surveying, including land subdivisions, unit titles, cross leases, easement and legislation surveys.

As our world grows and evolves, it brings new demands for how we should build our communities.

Industrial developments are necessary for our communities and economies to thrive. However, there is now a new need for these industrial spaces to be healthier for our environment, more affordable, and to have residential housing surrounding them without being disturbed by their activities.

Luckily there’s a solution that manages to check all the boxes.

What is light industrial development?

The term for this type of development is aptly named.

While it’s still considered industrial, it’s not like we would normally think. These zones anticipate that activities associated with the sites will not generate bad smells, dust, or excessive noise (hence the word ‘term light industrial’).

The layout is comprised of two elements: an office space connected to a larger warehouse space. These developments have become increasingly recognisable in the Auckland area as they have recently grown in popularity due to their low cost and convenience.

Light industrial developments allow business owners a lot of flexibility in terms of their operations. The warehouse spaces can be used for storage, as a workshop, or even as a little café, while the office spaces can be used for typical day-to-day commercial activities.

The process

There are numerous reasons why these developments are an ideal way forward for investors and business owners alike. But the ease of their construction makes them appealing to developers and surveyors.

For light industrial developments, surveyors typically will be needed to do the set-out work, which includes the building, external features (i.e. driveway and drainage), and a final unit title subdivision. Being a greenfield development only adds to the swiftness of surveying and other work as existing infrastructures are already assessable to support development demand

Why Woods

If it sounds relatively straightforward – that’s because that’s how we have managed to carry out every light industrial project.

When writing this, I struggled to remember any significant difficulties or challenges we’ve faced with light industrial projects. I now realise that I can’t recall any because of Woods’ multi-disciplinary approach and the principle of subdivisions truly tested regardless of the subdivision type. In all cases, Woods is here to provide support for all developers to enhance returns on their investment

Instead of our clients dealing with a web of misaligned communication between multiple contractors and consultants, they are able to leverage our experience and our ability to turn around to the expert engineer or planner behind us for support.

Growing popularity

Light industrial developments have been growing in popularity for the last few years. Woods’ has had the opportunity to work on projects like Lucas 18 Live/Work Units in Albany, comprised with 48 commercial and residential units

These units can go as low as $400k, and their numerous uses appeal to a diverse range of businesses, they are suitable for business premises, storage and workshop.

As their demand in the market continues to increase, it has become more and more paramount for developers to align themselves with the right organisations that will help keep this process as straightforward and hassle-free as possible.

Working with Woods means eliminating the challenges that come with using a variety of contractors by keeping all disciplines in one tidy location.

This, along with our experiences, help keep these light industrial projects true to their name.