Warehouse Development Hitting Peak Levels

Jamil Harkness is a senior industrial analyst at CBRE.

Warehouse development on the West Coast is at its highest level in decades. A new report from CBRE shows there is currently 57.7 million square feet of warehouse development in eight top West Coast markets. The activity accounts for 40% of total warehouse development among the top 20 industrial markets in the country. Ecommerce—including retailers, wholesalers and third-party logistics companies—are driving the increased demand for warehouse space.

“Many West Coast markets are close to a deep water port and a gigantic population base with consumers that buy lots of product, making for a deep and diverse business economy,” Kurt Strasmann, executive managing director at CBRE, tells GlobeSt.com. “As a result, West Coast markets, particularly the Inland Empire, have become the nation’s leader in development. In addition, most of these West Coast regions were never overbuilt and thus vacancy levels have been among the lowest in the nation.”