IRVINE, CA—Entrepreneurial firms that occupy between 1,500 square feet and 3,000 square feet are increasing their leasing activity, a testament to overall improvements in the economy, BKM Capital Partners' director of asset services Matt Stephenson tells GlobeSt.com. After recently securing 29 industrial leases in Las Vegas, we sat down with Stephenson for an exclusive chat about this market, multi-tenant industrial product trends and his predictions for the balance of the year.

GlobeSt.com: Your firm recently announced that you secured 29 industrial leases in Las Vegas. What is driving this strong leasing activity in the area?

Stephenson:Our assets are located in the Airport, Southwest and North Las Vegas submarkets, and we've seen significant leasing demand feeding off of the Strip (gaming-related and convention-services companies), as well as health-and-beauty-supply-oriented companies. North Las Vegas growth is more muted but certainly underway. The locations of our assets are definitely a factor for demand, but we also believe there is a general growth in the economy that is triggering demand. In fact, according to the Colliers International second-quarter industrial report for Las Vegas, there has been 2 million square feet of net absorption for the quarter—a significant uptick over the last several quarters—bringing vacancy down to below 7% for the first time since late 2007. For BKM Capital Partners' focus on multitenant industrial product, we see Las Vegas as a hot market with ongoing opportunity.