Industrial real estate

Demand from e-commerce and other companies has pushed up rents and reduced availability of smaller warehouses over the last five years more than for larger spaces, according to a new report.

A bigger footprint in El Paso, Texas, will help the freight forwarding arm of Deutsche Post DHL reach more shippers in the US and Mexico.

Fierce competition for warehouse space in and around New York and a lack of land on which to build has prompted developers to construct multi-level warehouses to meet the industrial space demands of logistics companies, shippers, and e-commerce business.

Centralized cargo consolidation makes Mexico City dominant in industrial development, but growing port volumes may change that over time.

A new study shows a growing percentage of the Port of New York and New Jersey drayage fleet is making its first stop close to the port, an apparent reflection of the desire by shippers and logistics providers to use near-port warehouse space. That demand continues to create a tight market, with lease rates hitting new highs in the second quarter.

The prolonged rent increases over the past decade for logistics space are beginning to moderate, although growing imports and strong demand for e-commerce fulfillment space in the largest seaport cities will keep industrial real estate development robust through the end of the year.

DHL Supply Chain Research finds businesses of all types struggling to keep up with the pace of e-commerce as they work to realign supply chain and transportation networks.

Strong demand for warehouse space fueled by booming e-commerce and the third-party logistics providers that serve it means high levels of warehouse development have not lowered vacancy rates, or made it easier for shippers to find space.

Commercial realtor CBRE forecasts refrigerated warehousing will increase 30 to 40 percent over the next five years, even though the rapid supply and demand imbalance in warehousing overall is flattening.

A proposal from the City of Newark would see dozens of underused and vacant land plots near the Port of New York and New Jersey redeveloped to create port-related warehousing and logistics facilities.

Shipper interest in a free trade zone in Zhuhai, China, is being driven by a shortage of logistics space and rocketing rental prices across the Pearl River in Hong Kong.

The first Central American vessel as part of two vessel strings from Seaboard Marine to the US East coast visited Savannah this week, a growing trade lane that has generated a 70 percent increase in imports in Georgia since 2014.

The pioneer in on-demand warehousing, Flexe, nabbed $43 million in venture capital funding to build out its short-term spot contract logistics marketplace.

US containerized imports from Asia dropped 0.5 percent year over year in the first quarter of 2019, after rising 15.5 percent in the fourth quarter, according to the PIERS data, a sister product of JOC.com within IHS Markit

The eight-year trend of declining industrial space availability could soon be over, with a more even balance between the demand for space and the amount of new space completed, even as rents continue to go up.

Each year JOC publishes a directory of nearly 200 warehousing service providers across the United States to help beneficial cargo owners and transportation providers find warehousing capacity as needed.

Ryder is creating new space in four warehouses and upgrading a trucking yard in Mexico to meet the country’s growing demand for industrial space, especially near the US border.

Mega-box warehouses of 1 million square feet and larger offer the size and efficiencies that are necessary for efficient e-commerce fulfillment, but finding sites in urban areas large enough to support the sprawling facilities can be problematic.

Import demand growth in the region is improving prospects for already strong exports of petrochemical, agricultural, and forest products, which had previously been limited by a shortage of empty containers.

Space taken by shippers and transportation providers accounts for an increasingly large share of the tightening Mexican industrial real estate market, which offered low vacancy rates and high rental costs in 2018.

The US-China trade war may be a one-off event, but it highlighted the tenuous balance of warehouse supply and demand in Southern California and New York-New Jersey, where future trade or weather events could result in meltdowns.

Users of industrial space who are looking for the right location for additional space must be prepared to pay more, sector analysts say.

Historically, when warehouse/industrial rental rates increase at near double-digit levels, it reduces demand. However, as the US economic expansion continues, that is not occurring, especially near seaports and in large inland hubs, where import distribution and e-commerce fulfillment needs are the greatest.

Shippers that use the Port of New York and New Jersey may find that Syracuse offers an attractive option once a rail-linked inland port is built. But will its lower rent offset higher logistics costs?

Shippers looking to move cargo to, from, or through Mexico will likely face a challenge finding warehouse and logistics space, as vacancy rates in some areas have hit their lowest levels in six years.

Shippers and logistics providers seeking warehouse space in the Port of New York and New Jersey area amid rising rents and declining vacancy rates are unlikely to see near-term relief, even as more than a dozen projects will add more than 12 million square feet to the market, real estate brokers say.

Beneficial cargo owners looking for industrial space face one of the tightest US real estate markets in years, especially in large seaport and inland cities, as growth in traditional import logistics and e-commerce is creating especially strong demand in large population centers.

Heeding requests from the third-party logistics providers community involved with container freight stations, the customs agency put aside a decree restricting storage of direct port delivery containers left uncleared by consignees at the wharf, to a single, port-designated off-site depot, and instead reopened that business to all storage yards in and around the port.

<p>Here is a directory of more than 175 warehousing service providers across the United States.</p>

<p>Despite paying higher rents and encountering especially low vacancy rates in US seaport cities and large inland cities, BCOs will continue to seek warehouse and distribution space in those high-cost locations, rather than secondary markets, decision makers told TPM 2018 conference attendees.&nbsp;</p>

Most warehouse/distribution sector indicators point to continued tight supply and rent increases of 5 to 6 percent in 2018, so BCOs should carefully plan their space needs.

<p>Tension over the crunch has sparked a number of disputes in recent months.</p>

The Port of Oakland Commission on Thursday is scheduled to take its second and final vote on the CenterPoint agreement.

Consumers’ embrace of e-commerce appears to be permanent.

During the last two decades, Georgia has encouraged development of import distribution centers that have attracted all-water services from Asia and made Savannah the second-largest US East Coast container port.

The twin drivers of a strong economy and the e-commerce boom have stoked demand.

Inland warehouses and trucking loom as a potential weak link in the supply chain of US cotton exporters preparing for their biggest harvest in years.

US shippers are increasingly setting up warehouses and distribution centers in the Lehigh Valley, from which they are a 60- to 80-mile dray from the Port of New York and New Jersey.

A consortium of Chinese investors has made an $11.6 billion offer for GLP, paying a huge premium for the Singapore-listed logistics property developer.