Middle Market Digest: This Week in the South and Mountain Regions

“We are leaving 2016 on a record high, with industrial real estate demand reaching new heights, with leasing in excess of 250 million square feet,” said Craig Meyer, president of JLL’s Industrial group. In fact, low interest rates, healthy consumer spending and strong e-commerce are forming perfect conditions for industrial and logistics real estate growth in 2017, says JLL. Potential investment in infrastructure and continued company expansion are also expected to fuel demand for warehouses and distribution centers despite global economic uncertainty.

In particular, this speaks to the infrastructure revival, which is something president-elect Trump has mentioned as part of his most urgent to-do list. To be sure, the urbanization of US cities cannot continue with functionally obsolete roads, bridges and other infrastructure. As upgrades are planned, raw materials will be needed and warehouses to store them. Investing in the Rust Belt’s infrastructure would mean reviving dozens of Mississippi waterway terminals that served a dated American manufacturing-based economy. Already zoned for industrial use, these ports are being repurposed to transport materials needed to build infrastructure for new industries driving the US economy, says JLL.—Lisa Brown