DENVER-It's still a tenant's market, as far as the local industrial market is concerned, according to Jeremy Kroner, an industrial broker at Cushman & Wakefield's Denver office. At a recent mid-year forecast, Kroner said that lease and vacancy rates have stabilized, and there is very little new construction.

For the past few years, he said, landlords have been focusing on tenant retention, as vacancy rates rose and rental rates fell. Landlords were forced to provide incentives and free rent to keep tenants. At the same time, there was an "explosion" in user sales, especially for buildings under 25,000 sf, as many small companies took advantage of low interest rates.

"The two key drivers for industrial real estate are increasing sales for key industries and increased employment across the board," Kroner said. He noted that food and beverage and general merchandise industries are the top industries in regard to retail trade. These are the industries--along with furniture, electrical appliances and building material--that will fuel demand for warehouse space.

Kroner is anticipating about 1.5 million sf of spec space to come online in the near future. Only a fraction of the thousands of acres available along the northeast corridor has been built on thus far. There are also a number of infill sites poised for development.