TL;DR: The Logistics Owner’s Guide to Revenue
- The Opportunity: The BOMA 2025 Industrial Standard (ANSI/BOMA Z65.2-2025) updates the rules for measuring industrial and flex buildings.
- The Shift: The standard provides a framework to classify At-Grade Unenclosed Areas (active loading docks, storage yards) as Rentable Area.
- The Method: Industrial uses a Unified Method to simplify leasing, but introduces granular Load Factors for shared park amenities.
- The Logistics Pain: Modern tenants buy cubic volume, not just floor space. 3D laser scanning validates Warehouse Clear Height to prevent racking disputes.
- The ROI: Auditing a portfolio often moves “Free Amenities” onto the rent roll, increasing asset valuation without new construction
In 2025, industrial assets are being underwritten like infrastructure, not sheds. Yet, many property owners in Toronto, New York, Calgary, Montreal, and across North America are still leasing these complex logistics machines using measurement methods from a decade ago.
Table of Contents
The New Industrial Reality
The commercial real estate sector has evolved. The release of the BOMA 2025 Industrial Standard (ANSI/BOMA Z65.2-2025) acknowledges that modern logistics operations use the entire site, not just the interior slab.
For brokers and asset managers, this standard offers a refined toolkit designed to document and value areas previously overlooked, specifically exterior areas and specialized tenant areas. If you are holding industrial properties measured under legacy standards, you may be under-documenting thousands of square feet of functional space.
The Monetizable Shift: Rentable Area of Outdoor Storage
The most aggressive revenue opportunity in the BOMA 2025 Industrial Standard lies in the formal guidance around At-Grade Unenclosed Areas.
Under previous measurement methodologies, huge paved truck courts, outdoor marshalling yards, and unenclosed loading docks were often treated as “amenities”, ancillary benefits included with the lease of the interior shell.
BOMA 2025 tightens how these areas are classified. It provides the framework to include them in the Rentable Area if they meet specific criteria:
- Functional Use: The space is used for active operations (storage, loading), not just landscaping.
- Exclusive Use: It is intended exclusively for a specific tenant.
- Finished & Protected: The area is paved, fenced, or otherwise improved.
Scenario: A logistics tenant in Mississauga occupies a 100,000 sq. ft. warehouse with a 20,000 sq. ft. exclusive secure storage yard. Under old rules, you leased 100,000 sq. ft. Under BOMA 2025, you lease 120,000 sq. ft. of Rentable Area.
Note: While BOMA defines how to measure and classify this space, the specific rate and lease structure remain market decisions. You might charge full base rent or a discounted “Yard Rate,” but the key is that it is now formally capitalized into the lease.
The Unified Method: Simplicity for Logistics
Unlike the Office Standard, which forces a choice between Method A and Method B, the Industrial Standard maintains a Single Method of Measurement (Unified Method).
This aligns with International Property Measurement Standards (IPMS) and eliminates the confusion of the old “Exterior Wall Methodology” vs. “Drip Line Methodology”.
Granular Load Factors
While the method is unified, BOMA 2025 introduces sophistication in how it generates multiple load factors. It distinguishes between:
- Building Service Area: Lobbies and electrical rooms allocated to all tenants.
- Inter-Allocated Areas: Previously known as Inter-Building Areas, these are shared amenities (like a central security gatehouse) that serve multiple buildings in an industrial park.
This granularity allows landlords to defend CAM charges during audits, proving that tenants are only paying for the shared space they actually use.
Non-Allocated Tenant Areas (NATA)
One of the most innovative concepts in 2025 is Non-Allocated Tenant Areas (NATA). This category addresses specific industrial real estate needs, such as a tenant installing a massive outdoor compressor or a dedicated generator pad.
NATA allows you to measure and document these specialized tenant areas directly to the user, without inflating the Load Factors for other tenants in the building. It is the mechanism that keeps multi-building configurations fair and competitive.
The Logistics Pain: Warehouse Clear Height
In modern warehousing, tenants don’t just lease floor area; they lease volume. Raising clear height from 24 feet to 36 feet can increase pallet capacity by 50%.
Legacy standard methods often defined clear height vaguely. BOMA 2025 standardizes this, but verifying it across a 500,000 sq. ft. facility is impossible with a tape measure.
The Risk of Bad Data (A Vignette):
A tenant leases a distribution center based on a marketed “32-foot clear height.” They order $500,000 of automated racking. Upon installation, they discover the rear bays slope down to 29 feet due to roof drainage. The racking doesn’t fit. The tenant demands a rent concession to cover the redesign.
A verified Clear Height survey prevents this dispute before the lease is signed.
3D Laser Scanning (LiDAR) generates a “Heat Map” of clear height across the entire floor plate, identifying the low point of every truss. This verified data protects you during tenant build-outs and allows you to market “Verified Volume” to high-density users.
Why 3D Scanning is Essential for Industrial
To execute the BOMA 2025 Industrial Standard effectively, relying on architectural designs or legacy 2D plans is risky. Real-world conditions, sagging roofs, slanted walls, and irregular outdoor paving, require precision.
iScano utilizes terrestrial LiDAR to capture the industrial property as a “Digital Twin.” This supports the measurement standard by:
- Audit-Proofing the Yard: Precisely calculating the square footage of irregular at-grade unenclosed areas to justify the rent increase.
- Conflict Detection: Verifying that tenant equipment in NATA zones does not encroach on common fire lanes or associated structures.
- Defensible Quantities: Providing audit-proof numbers at scale, ensuring your portfolio valuation holds up to buyer due diligence.
FAQ: Navigating the Industrial Standard
Is BOMA 2025 mandatory for industrial buildings?
No, utilizing the ANSI/BOMA standards is voluntary. However, major institutional buyers and REITs expect measurement data to align with the latest standard method of measurement. Failing to adopt it can devalue your asset during disposition compared to modernized peers.
Can I charge full rent for outdoor storage?
BOMA defines it as Rentable Area, but billing is a negotiation. Many landlords use the BOMA classification to move “free” yard space onto the rent roll at a discounted “Yard Rate.” The value lies in formalizing the revenue stream within the lease structure.
What about mezzanines?
If a mezzanine is permanent and structural, BOMA 2025 includes it in the Rentable Area. Temporary equipment platforms (like some racking catwalks) are generally excluded unless they meet specific occupancy criteria.
How does this affect “Triple Net” leases?
The new standard’s areas spreadsheet (Global Summary of Areas) provides a transparent breakdown of Allocated Areas. This transparency protects landlords during CAM audits, as you can clearly show exactly how shared space costs are distributed based on the ANSI/BOMA Z65.2 rules.
Conclusion: Audit Your Portfolio Before 2026
The commercial real estate industry is shifting toward precision. The days of leasing “approximate” sheds are over.
By adopting the BOMA 2025 Industrial Standard, you align your asset with the realities of modern logistics. You capture the value of the yard, you verify the volume for the tenant, and you protect your Net Operating Income (NOI).
Ready to uncover the hidden revenue in your industrial park? Contact iScano’s Industrial Measurement Team to schedule a portfolio audit.
References
- Extreme Measures. (2025). Guide to the BOMA Industrial Standard.
- BOMA International. (2025). BOMA 2025 Industrial Standard (ANSI/BOMA Z65.2-2025).
- iScano. (2025). BOMA 2024 vs 2017: How to Increase Rentable Area.
- Savills. (2018). Warehouse Operations: Raise the Roof!
- Goran Brelih. (2025). What You Need to Know About the New BOMA Industrial Standard.
