"There's a huge pent-up demand because industrial real estatematches up so well from an actuarial standpoint," says Jack Fraker,vice chairman of CB Richard Ellis' top-ranked investment salesgroup. "That return and the compounded effect is what chiefinvestment officers are looking for."

According to CBRE's first quarter analysis, the average per sfprice in Dallas/Fort Worth rose slightly despite a slight slowdownon the Q1 closing front. The region is averaging $67 per sf or $6per sf below the national average."The first quarter was incrediblyslow. Everyone's adjusting to what's going on," acknowledges CaryKrier, senior vice president of industrial sales for Jones LangLaSalle in Dallas. "But, industrial certainly is a preferred assettype. Lots of people don't think there's as much risk associatedwith industrial."

Fraker says his team's pipeline for the next 60 days hasclosings lined up for $1.1 billion of portfolio and one-off sales,totaling 18.7 million sf all across the US. "That validates thecapital markets are open for business in primary markets of thecountry, like Dallas, for quality real estate," he tellsGlobeSt.com.