How should a flex property handle available-bay inquiries?

Treat an available-bay inquiry as a fit check before it becomes a tour. Capture the prospect's square footage, intended use, power, door type and size, clear height, parking or yard needs, timing and term, and compare each one with the bay's measured specs. Ask the local building or zoning office whether the intended use fits the property's zoning and certificate of occupancy, book the tour, then send the bay sheet so the prospect arrives with the real numbers.

Key points

• Ask for the business's numbers, not a bay label. "Something around 2,500 feet with a dock" leaves out clear height, door size and power.
• Compare each requirement with the bay's measured specs on file. Measurements are site specific, so use your own, not a listing template.
• Intended use is a question for the local building or zoning office. Record what they tell you. Do not decide it on the phone.
• Book the tour only for bays that pass the fit check, then send the bay sheet before the tour.
• Log the reason for every bay that does not fit. Those reasons show what your next vacancy needs.

What to collect first

Item	Why it matters
Square footage needed	Office and warehouse split if they have one. Screens out bays that are too small.
Intended use, in the prospect's words	What they will make, store, repair or sell, and any process such as welding, spraying or food prep. This drives the zoning and occupancy check.
Power needed	Amps, voltage and phase as the prospect states them, or their equipment list. Compare with what your electrician has confirmed for the bay.
Door type and size	Dock-high or drive-in, and the tallest and widest vehicle that must pass through.
Clear height	Their racking or equipment height. Compare with the bay's measured clear height under the lowest obstruction.
Parking or yard needs	Staff and customer cars, box trucks, trailers or outdoor storage.
Timing	Earliest and latest move-in date.
Term	Length of lease they want, compared with your minimum.
Contact and decision maker	Who signs, and who should get the bay sheet.

The workflow

Step	Owner	What	Output
1. Capture	Office	Collect every item in the table above, in the prospect's own numbers	Inquiry record
2. Fit check	Leasing	Compare each requirement with the measured specs of each open bay	Bays that fit, and reasons for those that do not
3. Use check	Leasing	Ask the local building or zoning office whether the intended use fits the property's zoning and certificate of occupancy, and what is needed if it does not	Answer recorded with date and contact name
4. Book the tour	Office	Offer a time for each bay that fits; send a confirmation and a reminder	Tour booked
5. Send the bay sheet	Leasing	Measured square footage, clear height, doors, power as confirmed by your electrician, parking or yard allocation, availability date, rate from the rate sheet and lease terms	Bay sheet sent
6. Tour and follow up	Leasing	Walk the bay, recheck any number the prospect questions, and set a follow-up date	Next step logged

If the use check is still open when the tour is booked, tell the prospect in writing that the bay depends on the answer.

Inquiry checklist

• Square footage, office and warehouse split recorded (required)
• Intended use recorded in the prospect's words, including any special process (required)
• Power need recorded, or the equipment list attached (required)
• Door type and the tallest and widest vehicle recorded (required)
• Clear height needed recorded (required)
• Parking or yard need recorded (required)
• Move-in window and lease term recorded (required)
• Each open bay compared with measured specs, with a reason for every miss (required)
• Local building or zoning office asked about the intended use, answer logged (required)
• Tour booked with confirmation and reminder (recommended)
• Bay sheet sent before the tour (recommended)
• Prospect's photos or plans of their equipment attached (optional)

Example (hypothetical)

A small cabinet shop calls about an open bay. Every number, bay and requirement below is invented for the example.

The prospect needs 2,400 square feet, a drive-in door for a box truck that is 12 feet 6 inches tall and 8 feet wide, 16 feet of clear height for lumber racks, parking for 6 cars, a move-in within 45 days and a 3-year term. They say they will also spray finish cabinets on site. Their equipment list includes a dust collector and a panel saw that, they say, need 208-volt three-phase power, about 60 amps combined.

The property has two open bays. Its measured specs:

Spec	Bay A	Bay B
Square feet	2,000	2,500
Drive-in door	12 feet high by 10 feet wide	14 feet high by 12 feet wide
Clear height	18 feet	18 feet
Assigned parking	4 spaces	5 spaces
Available in	15 days	30 days
Electrical service confirmed by the property's electrician	Not yet confirmed	Not yet confirmed

The property's minimum term is 2 years.

• Bay A square footage: 2,000 minus 2,400 = 400 square feet short. Does not fit.
• Bay A door: 12 feet minus 12 feet 6 inches = 6 inches too low for the truck. Does not fit.
• Bay B square footage: 2,500 minus 2,400 = 100 square feet spare. Fits.
• Bay B door height: 14 feet minus 12 feet 6 inches = 1 foot 6 inches above the truck. Door width: 12 feet minus 8 feet = 4 feet wider than the truck. Fits on the measured numbers. The prospect's driver still confirms the approach and turn on the tour.
• Bay B clear height: 18 feet minus 16 feet = 2 feet above the racks. Fits on the measured numbers.
• Bay B parking: 6 needed minus 5 assigned = 1 space short. The property offers 1 unassigned space at its rate-sheet price.
• Timing: available in 30 days, inside the 45-day window. Term: 3 years meets the 2-year minimum.
• Bay B power: the prospect needs about 60 amps of 208-volt three-phase power. No electrician has confirmed what Bay B's service can supply, so power is pending electrical review. It is not a fit yet.

Bay B fits on square footage, door, clear height, timing and term once the extra parking space is added. Two items stay open. Power waits for the property's licensed electrician to confirm Bay B's service against the equipment list. Spray finishing waits for an answer from the local building and zoning office on whether that use fits the property's zoning and certificate of occupancy, which leasing logs. The tour is booked with a written note that the bay depends on both answers, and the bay sheet goes out the same day with power marked pending.

Common problems

Problem	Likely cause	Fix
Tour ends at the door	Truck height or width never asked	Ask for the tallest and widest vehicle in the first call
Racks do not fit after move-in	Listed clear height used instead of a measurement under the lowest obstruction	Measure clear height in each bay and put that number on the bay sheet
Use question surfaces after lease signing	Intended use not recorded or not checked	Record the use in the prospect's words and ask the local office before the lease
Power upgrade surprises both sides	Equipment list not collected	Ask for the equipment list and compare with what your electrician confirmed
Prospect cannot compare bays	Bay sheet missing measured numbers	Send one bay sheet format with the same measured fields for every bay
Yard request turned down late	Parking and yard needs not asked	Ask for cars, trucks, trailers and outdoor storage in the first call

What to track

Track the share of tours booked for bays that passed the fit check on every captured item. Tours for bays that miss a measured requirement use a walkthrough on a bay that cannot be leased to that prospect.

Limitations

• All measurements in this article are examples. Square footage, clear height, door sizes, power and parking must come from your own measurements and records for each bay.
• Whether a use is allowed depends on local zoning, the property's certificate of occupancy and the lease. Ask the local building or zoning office, and your attorney for lease questions. This article does not say any use is allowed or not allowed.
• This is general information, not legal advice. Check with your state program or attorney.
• Electrical capacity should be confirmed by a licensed electrician, not estimated from a listing.
• This article covers new inquiries. For existing tenants, see How should a flex property handle lease renewals? More flex answers are in Propty Learn for flex parks.

Where Propty fits

Propty's industrial flex page describes answering bay inquiries 24/7 with your approved greeting and a recording notice, answering from your bay details, and booking tours with a confirmation text and a reminder. The same page describes recording reservation holds, choosing every call, missed calls or scheduled hours, English and Spanish support and transfers to your team. Propty's What you get page describes texting back callers you miss and warm transfers when a caller needs a person. None of these pages describes a zoning or occupancy check, so that step stays with your team.

Want to see how your listing and calls look to a new tenant? Get a free Get Found audit.

These descriptions come from Propty's public pages as checked on 2026-10-16. They are not a test of the live product. What is available for a property depends on setup and connected services, so confirm current behavior in a demo before relying on it.

See the industrial flex demo.

Sources

• Propty for industrial flex space: 24/7 answering with approved greeting and recording notice, answers from bay details, tour booking with confirmation text and reminder, reservation holds, coverage choices, English and Spanish, transfers. Checked 2026-10-16.
• Propty, What you get: missed-call text back, warm transfer to your team. Checked 2026-10-16.
• No outside statistics are used, and no zoning or building code rule is stated. Use questions go to the local building or zoning office. All measurements in the example are invented.