HOUSTON—The rise of e-commerce and need for strategically placed distribution centers to meet growing customer demand are opening the door to a whole new era for US industrial development. In reviewing this sector's evolution during the past decade, Yardi Matrix identified the 50 top targets for industrial construction–perhaps as an Amazon headquarters shortlist?

In terms of the largest amount of industrial space added to a city, the first spot goes to Houston. It added around 32.3 million square feet in 153 properties, outpacing Phoenix's 22.3 million square feet and its Texas rival, Dallas Fort-Worth's 17.6 million square feet. However, in terms of markets, Houston came in fourth with a total of 63 million square feet of industrial space, spread across 254 properties.

“One thing that sets Houston apart is that it's one of the markets that hasn't seen that many 1 million-square-foot warehouses built as other important industrial markets such as DFW or Inland Empire have since 2007,” Diana Sabau, marketing communications specialist, Commercial Café/Yardi, tells GlobeSt.com. “The area is relatively compact for its size, which allows companies to have several smaller warehouses that act as satellites in the distribution chain.”

One exception is the city's most significant industrial project in the last decade, the Dril-Quip world headquarters at 1.62 million square feet. Built in 2011, the headquarters facility includes administrative, sales, engineering, research and development, and forge, heat treat and manufacturing functions on a 218-acre campus site on Eldridge Parkway in northwest Houston.

On site are 16 buildings with space divided into 1.32 million square feet of shop and warehouse facilities and 297,200 square feet of office space. An additional 600,000 square feet of outdoor staging, storage and shipping space is used to hold product for the next step in the manufacturing process, for crating and transporting off campus or to store customers' materials, GlobeSt.com learns.

Dril-Quip is the world's leading manufacturer of off-shore drilling equipment for oil and gas companies, with 27 facilities worldwide.

Instant Insights /

What's the One Thing That Sets Houston Apart?

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