Industrial real estate

Rapidly rising demand for retail and e-commerce logistics in China is providing warehouse property developers with a constant stream of business in both tier one cities along the coast and in the less developed inland regions.

Wal-Mart’s recent decision to open a 1.2 million square-foot online retailing fulfillment center outside of Indianapolis suggests the state’s motto as the “crossroads of America” is well deserved.

The Chinese government has identified logistics as one of the pillar industries to support economic growth, and the phenomenal development in this area can be seen in the annual report of Global Logistics Properties, the mainland’s market leader.

What exactly is an e-commerce warehouse?

Logistics property developers in China continue to supply new warehouses to support a seemingly insatiable appetite for e-commerce distribution facilities.

There is no letup in the demand for modern logistics facilities in China, but local and foreign companies are competing for a limited number of available warehouses outside the developed logistics centers.

New Orleans Cold Storage has plans to more than double the size of its existing storage space at the Port of Charleston, South Carolina.

E-commerce sales generated some heat for The Home Depot during a frigid winter. Online purchases rose by $232 million or 40 percent in the first quarter as the home improvement retailer’s website drew more than 3 million visitors a day.

Growth at North America’s two largest cold storage companies has mushroomed in recent years, with both looking at overseas opportunities.

The warehouse and distribution center industry grew strongly in 2013, and this momentum continued into the first quarter of 2014.

While some cold storage companies are growing rapidly, the head of one midsize warehouse company says that doesn’t apply throughout the industry.

Singapore’s rising prominence as a strategic logistics hub for Southeast Asia was further illustrated by the recent investment in warehouse and distribution facilities in the city-state by DHL and Menlo Logistics.

The rapid growth in China’s e-commerce market, reflected in the hype surrounding the forthcoming U.S. IPO of Alibaba, is exposing an acute shortage of quality warehouse and distribution center space that developers and governments are rushing to address.

Goodman Group plans to increase its investment in China to $3 billion in the next three to four years, Philip Pearce, the Australia-listed global industrial property developer’s China country manager, said in Shanghai.

The Swiss manufacturer of key distribution system components is expanding its own distribution and manufacturing footprint in the U.S. as e-commerce demand fuels distribution center construction.

The inland port of Monterrey, Mexico, is attracting new shippers, and new customs legislation will allow existing and future tenants to more easily tap foreign trade zone benefits.

It begins with a leaky faucet, or perhaps a broken piece of crown molding, or a washing machine, or ceiling fan. Something needs to be fixed, replaced, improved or installed — and the right tools are required to do it. That specific need generates the demand that sets the supply chain in motion at The Home Depot, and increasingly that demand first appears as an online order placed through the retailer’s website.

Singapore-based logistics developer GLP adds $230 million to its Brazilian development fund, which now totals $1.1 billion, to build out leasable distribution space in Brazil.

Global Logistics Properties wins $2.5 billion in support from Chinese investors to expand its fast-growing network of modern logistics facilities across China.

Craig Meyer, president of Jones Lang LaSalle’s industrial brokerage team, advises clients that are looking for warehouse space in hot markets such as Southern California, Northern New Jersey and Dallas to focus on the property that best suits their needs and to move decisively to close the deal.

It’s not hard to see why major shippers are setting up shop or expanding their distribution operations in Calgary. Roughly $3.5 billion will be spent on infrastructure over the coming year.

ATLANTA — Home Depot yesterday opened the first of three new direct fulfillment centers designed to speed online orders to consumers through distribution channels across its supply chain.

Shippers are expected to make bolder moves in recalibrating their supply chains’ real estate footprint this year, even if many traditional retailers are still determining how to take advantage of the e-commerce rush.

The industrial real estate market in Southern California’s Inland Empire — the most sought-after location in the country for warehouses and distribution centers — is in near-perfect harmony right now.

When Jeffrey H. Schwartz looks to China, he sees a land brimming with logistics opportunities — billions of dollars in opportunities, in fact.

Suggesting that pressure is growing to deliver faster to e-commerce customers, Home Depot said it will be build three direct fulfillment centers around the country that will enable it to ship orders up to 5 PM on the day they are received.

With online sales soaring 45 percent in the third quarter, Southern retail chain Belk is expanding its e-commerce distribution and fulfilllment network.

The rapid growth of e-commerce in China is a facet of the robust domestic consumption fueling demand for modern logistics facilities, according to Jeffrey H. Schwartz of Global Logistics Properties.

The dramatic growth of e-commerce is driving demand for a product that can’t be obtained online — big box e-fulfillment centers.

Major retailers are opening new omnichannel fulfillment centers larger than 500,000 square feet in areas offering access to key population centers.

Block Real Estate Services has started construction on its newest industrial park, Lenexa Logistics Centre, in Lenexa, Kan.

OOCL has leased 50,000 square feet of office space in the RiverPark 7 building in South Jordan, Utah.

The Carlyle Group and The Townsend Group have partnered with Shanghai Yupei Group to invest in 17 warehouses in China, representing a combined equity commitment of $400 million.

The U.S. industrial real estate market performed “well” during the first half of 2013, highlighted by year-over-year increases in transaction volume and revenue in many markets...

OnTrac has decided to expand its San Diego operation to support increased volume.

NFI, a New Jersey-based supply chain company, and Hillwood, a real estate developer, have broken ground on a distribution site in Pennsylvania’s Lehigh Valley, which will provide warehousing services on the East Coast.

Ozburn-Hessey Logistics has signed a 185,520 square foot industrial lease to fully occupy Pan American North Distribution Center in Medley, Fla., near Miami.