Skip to main content

The Future of Manufacturing Facilities

A smarter, faster, and more strategic way to build spaces that match the sophistication of your operations.

Talk to an expert

Rethinking Industrial Real Estate for Modern Manufacturing

For decades, industrial real estate has favored distribution tenants – leaving manufacturers to retrofit facilities never built for their needs. FlexShell® changes that.

Created by ARCO Design/Build, FlexShell® is a proprietary platform for next-generation manufacturing real estate. It delivers speed to market, flexibility of design, and lasting asset value.

More uses. More tenants. Better resale.

Traditional manufacturing facilities are designed as bespoke, single-use solutions - highly tailored to the first tenant’s processes. While this ensures functionality, it also creates a challenge: when that tenant leaves or ownership changes, the building is often difficult (and costly) to repurpose.

FlexShell® eliminates this limitation. By embedding flexibility into the core design, we deliver facilities that:

Perform immediately

for your specific manufacturing process - whether life sciences, advanced materials, or electronics.

Reconfigure easily

to support a different process or tenant in the future without costly, time-intensive retrofits.

Preserve and enhance asset value

ensuring your capital project remains marketable, resilient, and ROI-positive over the long term.

Cost & Delivery Advantage

Unleash the Potential

ARCO’s Target Value Design-Build approach compresses feasibility, design, and pricing into weeks—not months. By aligning scope, cost, and constructability from day one, FlexShell gives teams the clarity to make fast, confident decisions and move projects forward without costly redesigns or surprises.

Speed

Early cost certainty with guaranteed pricing. Accelerated schedules without scope sacrifice.

Insight

Comprehensive site evaluation, zoning analysis, and economic incentive consultation.

Agility

Real-time adjustments that keep your project aligned with business objectives.

The Results are Staggering

Speed to market

7-8

months faster

Smart & cost effective

50%

less expensive compared to traditional EPCM models

Future-proof

Flexible

& scalable

Great for both

Developers

& manufacturers

The FlexShell Lineup – Delivery Options

Different manufacturing strategies demand different real estate solutions.
The FlexShell® family provides tailored options to match your goals:

The next evolution—high-performance baseline design for most manufacturers.

Sustainable, minimal-footprint facilities engineered for ESG goals and cost savings.

Optimized for drone automation and advanced logistics integration.

Modular, reconfigurable layouts that grow and shift with your business.

Multi-story configurations for land-constrained markets.

Purpose-built for high-tech and advanced fabrication users.

Put It Anywhere. Really.

Different manufacturing strategies demand different real estate solutions.
The FlexShell® family provides tailored options to match your goals:

  • Labor pool access
  • Utility and infrastructure capacity
  • Proximity to airports and intermodal hubs
  • Economic development incentives

Our Strategic Ecosystem

Every FlexShell® project is supported by a network of trusted partners across real estate, design, capital, and technology. Together, we deliver smarter, faster, better facilities.

Client Testimonials –
ARCO Experience

Their ability to design and construct a flexible facility within an already aggressive timeline was impressive. When you combine that with the cost that they were able to deliver it for, it became an easy game changer for our business.

Confidential Life Sciences Client

It was engineered specifically for advanced manufacturing…it’s a very drop-in ready facility for us.

Paul Lichty, Forge Nano

From the beginning, their scope of work was complete and robust helping us avoid unnecessary change orders throughout the project and savings in ongoing operational costs into the future. They were also able to meet our expedited scheduling needs for getting this facility open quickly.

Dan Schoenl, Nordic Cold Storage

They deliver more than just a project — they deliver confidence. Their team is responsive, solution-oriented, and genuinely invested in the success of their partners. You always feel like they’re on your side, not just checking boxes.

Adam Horne, Stier Supply Co

Performance Add-Ons –
Accessorize

Enhance your FlexShell® with optional upgrades that turn performance into a competitive edge:

Central Utility Plants

for reliable, efficient energy distribution

Automation Integration

with leaders like Rockwell and Siemens

Wellness Certifications

such as FitWel for workforce attraction and retention