Nationwide, the Inland Empire area around Los Angeles and the Chicago region were go-to places for industrial and logistics lease signings. Both were among the top markets leases inked in the first half of 2018, accounting for 25 of the top 100 deals.
Southern California tallied 11.6 million square feet of deals signed, while another 6.8 million square feet was leased in the Chicago area, according to a new CBRE report.
The rankings shouldn’t come as a surprise to industry observers, in either the Los Angeles area or Chicago, where demand for industrial space has led to plunging vacancy rates and rising rents, primarily from the continued growth in e-commerce sales.
CBRE’s analysis of the 100 largest industrial leases showed 56 were signed by e-commerce companies and third-party-logistics companies, which predominantly handle distribution for goods purchased online.
Rounding out the top five markets for large industrial leases were Atlanta at 7 million square feet, Pennsylvania’s Interstate 78/I-81 corridor at 6.8 million square feet and Dallas-Fort Worth at 5.2 million square feet.
CBRE found 30 of the leases were for warehouses larger than 750,000 square feet, which it said reflects e-commerce users’ preference for expansive facilities with high ceilings and, in many cases, modern specifications for automation and rapid movement of massive inventories. The 100 largest leases accounted for 67.8 million square feet.