ProLogis Issues First Research Report

Leonard Sahling, first VP of ProLogis and head of its research group, says he believes the report provides the more detailed information than any report he knows of.

"The focus on bulk warehouses and distribution facilities distinguishes this report from other industrial construction pipeline research, which typically bundles together all types of industrial properties," he says. " Industrial property types are as distinct from one another as they are from office buildings. They have different uses, physical characteristics, customer bases and risk/return profiles."

Key findings of the U.S. Construction Pipeline Report include:

• Newly started bulk distribution and warehouse projects appear tohave bottomed out in the first half of 2002 and now are headed slightlyhigher.

• Last year's pace of 58 million sf in newly started projectsappears to be the bottom for the current real estate cycle, amounting toless than half of what was started at the cyclical peak.

• Build-to-suits accounted for only 33% of total starts during thefirst half of 2003, versus 55% of total starts during the second half oflast year.

• With deliveries usually lagging behind starts by six to 12 months, itcomes as no surprise that deliveries continued to trend downwards during the first half of 2003.

• Ten of the 30 markets reported volumes of newly started space forthe first half of 2003 that either equaled or exceeded total starts forthe entire previous year: Baltimore, Charlotte, Cincinnati, Columbus (OH), Dallas, Denver, Indianapolis, Louisville , Phoenix andPortland.

• Twelve of the 30 markets reported no new starts during the first sixmonths of 2003: Tampa , St. Louis, San Francisco's South Bay andEast Bay submarkets, Orange County , Seattle, Nashville ,Miami, Houston, Harrisburg , Allentown and Austin