Test a Side-Load Building on Your Narrow Site Before You Buy
Start from a side-load building that sizes itself to your parcel, with docks on one long side facing an internal truck court. You see how much building a narrow or irregular site carries before you price the deal.
How Big a Side-Load Warehouse Will Fit My Site?
TestFit is real estate feasibility software that generates site plans on your parcel and calculates what they yield. For a single side-load building, the answer comes down to three things that are hard to judge from a parcel map.
Flexed to the parcel
The building flexes from 92k to 350k sf to suit the parcel. On a narrow or irregular site, the shape sets the size more than the acreage.
Court along the dock side
Docks on one long side need a truck court running the length of that wall. The site has to give it room without cutting into building depth.
Dock count follows the court
Dock doors line the side facing the court, so the building's length along it sets the door count. Check that the count works for the tenant before the size is set.
From Your Parcel to a Deal You Can Underwrite
Start from the side-load building your team would build, tune it to your standards, and finish with one model for the site, plan, tabulation and pro forma.
Your parcel and its constraints
- Site boundary: pick the parcel from built-in parcel data with current owner info, draw it, enter metes and bounds, or import a KML/KMZ file
- Setbacks and frontage: front, side and rear setbacks set to the parcel edges
- Zoning: FAR, building and impervious coverage, height limits and parking ratios, pulled in for your parcel so you don't have to dig through the zoning code
- Easements: areas the layout keeps buildings out of
- Site conditions: flood zones, wetlands and topography from Site Intelligence
Every layout starts inside your site's real constraints.
Your product, fine-tuned on the site
- Product: 1-story side-load buildings, 36 ft clear, one building type that flexes from 92k to 350k sf
- Site layout: docks on one long side facing an internal truck court, trailer and car parking
- Your edits: building size, orientation, docks, the court, parking and circulation
You see the building your team would propose, on your parcel.
A source of truth for the deal
- Site plan geometry: buildings, courts, parking and drives drawn to the parcel
- Tabulation for this product: building sf, dock doors, trailer and car stalls against what's required, site coverage and FAR
- Earthwork: cut and fill for the layout
- Financials: the geometry turned into development costs, revenue and returns
- Shareable results: a link or PDF report for your team, partners and other stakeholders
You know whether the deal works, with numbers to back it.
TestFit is transformational. We've shaved days off of our analysis by using the AI capabilities of this software, which allows us to make smarter decisions faster.
Side-Load Warehouse Site Planning FAQ
What is a side-load warehouse?
A distribution building with dock doors along one long side wall, facing an internal truck court.
How is this different from the side-load park with mixed sizes?
This layout uses one side-load building type that flexes in size to fit the site, repeating it where there is room. The mixed sizes layout draws from five building sizes around a shared internal court.
What kind of site works for a single side-load building?
Narrow or irregular parcels where a front-load or rear-load court won't fit along a long wall. Load your parcel in TestFit with this layout to see how large the building can get.
Why use a flexible building size?
The layout holds one side-load building type that sizes itself to the parcel, from 92k to 350k sf, with its court and parking. You can push the building larger after it generates.
Can I change the layout after it generates?
Yes. Start from this layout, then edit the building size, docks, court, parking and circulation in TestFit. The site plan and yield recalculate as you go.
Find it in TestFit
Test This Layout on Your Next Industrial Site
Load your parcel and get the site plan, yield, and costs in one place.