Calgary Warehouse and Industrial Lease Glossary

Leasing terms

Additional rent

The tenant's share of building operating costs — property tax, insurance, common area maintenance, repairs, management — paid on top of net rent. Also called operating costs or TMI.

Base / net rent

The rent for the space itself, before operating costs. Almost all Calgary industrial leases are quoted net.

Clear height

The usable vertical height inside a warehouse, measured to the lowest obstruction — typically a sprinkler head, joist, light or duct. Not the ridge height. Determines racking capacity.

Dock-height door

A door at trailer bed height, usually about 48 inches, for loading directly into a trailer. Distinct from a grade-level or drive-in door at ground level.

Drive-in / grade-level door

A door at ground level a vehicle can drive through. Essential for forklifts, vans and equipment; useless for trailer loading without a ramp.

ESFR

Early Suppression, Fast Response — a sprinkler design common in modern high-bay warehouses that can allow higher storage without in-rack sprinklers, depending on commodity and configuration.

Fixturing period

Rent-free time before the lease term begins, for the tenant to install racking, power, IT and fit-out.

Proportionate share

The fraction of building operating costs allocated to a tenant, usually leasable area of the premises over leasable area of the building or complex. Check the denominator.

Restoration obligation

What the tenant must remove or reinstate at the end of the lease. On warehouses this commonly captures racking, mezzanines, added power, cranes and dock equipment. Negotiate it at signing.

Site coverage

Building footprint as a proportion of site area. Lower coverage means more yard, truck court and parking; higher coverage means more building per dollar of land.

Truck court

The paved area in front of loading docks used for trailer manoeuvring. Depth determines what vehicles can dock. Frequently the constraint on older buildings.

Calgary municipal record terms

Assessment roll number

The City of Calgary's identifier for an assessment account. Assessment history on this site is matched by exact roll number, which is why the history is reliable at account grain.

CPID

City parcel identifier — The City's identifier for a land parcel. Note that 6,205 industrial assessment accounts sit on 3,637 parcels: several accounts can share one parcel.

Assessed value

The mass-appraisal value used for property taxation. Not market value, not an appraisal, not a price.

Non-residential assessed value

The portion of an assessment attributed to non-residential use, which is what industrial property is normally taxed on.

Land-use designation

The district a parcel sits in under the Calgary Land Use Bylaw — I-G, I-C, I-B, I-H, I-E, I-R, I-O, DC and others. Determines what uses may be considered, not what is approved.

Direct Control (DC)

A site-specific land-use district governed by its own bylaw rather than a standard district. 933 Calgary industrial accounts are DC. Each must be read individually.

Short legal description

The abbreviated plan, block and lot reference for the parcel.

Sub-property use code

A City of Calgary assessment sub-classification (for example I101, I102). This site reports the code as published. The City provides separate classification reference data, but this build does not yet join those descriptions to property records, so it does not assert a meaning for an unvalidated code.

Development permit

The land-use approval — whether a use may operate on a site and on what conditions. Distinct from a building permit, which deals with construction.

Building permit

The construction approval — new build, addition, alteration, tenant improvement, mechanical, electrical, demolition.

Truck route

A designated City of Calgary corridor for truck movement. A dangerous-goods route is a designated subset for regulated commodities.

Terms you will not find on this site

Asking rent, net effective rent, vacancy rate, availability rate, absorption, cap rate, sale price, tenant name, owner name. None of these are published in the sources behind this site, and none are estimated or inferred here.