Auto Sales Drive Detroit Industrial Sector to Historic High

DETROIT—Vacancy and net absorption in Detroit’s industrial sector have now reached levels not seen in over 20 years, according to a report by Newmark Grubb Knight Frank on fourth quarter industrial trends data. And experts from the firm say the region still has a lot of capacity for growth.

“The metro Detroit market is essentially at full capacity,” John DeGroot, vice president of research at NGKF, tells GlobeSt.com, mostly due to the resurgence of the US auto industry, which saw sales reach 17.4 million units in 2015, topping a record set in 2000. “There are ten mega distribution facilities with at least one million square feet in the region, and each is between 95% and 100% occupancy.”