What is a Vanilla Shell? Grey Shell?
If your in the process of buying or leasing space for your growing business odds are you’ve been looking at commercial real estate listings with the terms Vanilla Shell, White Shell, White Box, or soft shell. You also may have heard Grey Box, Grey Shell, or Hard Shell. These are all terms used to describe the current state of any particular space for sale or lease. As a potential occupant it’s good to understand the difference between a Grey Shell and a Vanilla Shell, and to identify which type of space best fits your needs.
Grey shell
A grey shell will allow you the most flexibility when performing your build out and give you the best opportunity to design every aspect. So what is a Grey Shell? A grey Shell is going to be a completely vacant space. Typically the only thing installed will be the exterior walls, demising walls, insulation and exterior doors. A roof top unit will be installed, but no duct work will be run, and plumbing will be stubbed into the space but no further plumbing will have been completed. You also most likely be looking at a dirt floor to allow plumbing to be run below the slab. If you lease this type of space you will have to layout the space, have all the plumbing installed, pour concrete, build walls, sheetrock, paint, install ductwork, install ceilings, and perform all of the electrical work. All of this work can take a significant amount of time and resources, but it also provides the most flexibility for you to create a space consistent with your brand and to maximize your businesses efficiency.
Vanilla Shell
A Vanilla shell is going to be slightly less flexible than a Grey Shell, but it still allows plenty of opportunity to customize the space. A Vanilla Shell will typically have the exterior walls sheetrocked and painted white, concrete poured, bathrooms built and at a minimum roughed in, primary heating trunk lines installed, and electrical panel installed. You would still layout the remainder of the space, construct any interior walls, install a ceiling, flooring, and any finishes on the walls as well as cabinetry. Given the smaller scope of work it takes less time to have a move in shell ready to move into, and while it’s not 100% customizable it still offers significant opportunity to create a space consistent with your companies brand.
