Large industrial occupancies rebounded in 2025 as manufacturing and logistics tenants stepped in to fill space once dominated by e-commerce users, according to Colliers' latest Industrial Tenant Tracker.
Tenants occupied 384 million square feet in facilities of 100,000 square feet or larger during the year, a 25% increase from 307 million square feet in 2024. Companies moved into 1,438 large facilities, up from 1,160 the year before, signaling that demand for major warehouse and industrial space is recovering after a multiyear slowdown. Net absorption more than doubled in the second half of 2025 to 118 million square feet, compared with 57 million square feet during the first half, although elevated move-outs continued to temper overall gains.
Logistics providers remained the largest driver of demand. Third-party logistics, trucking and transportation companies accounted for 32% of bulk occupancies, taking 123 million square feet across 430 facilities, a 22% increase from 2024.
Manufacturing, fabrication and materials processing firms occupied 66 million square feet of bulk space in 2025, nearly 50% more than the 44 million square feet recorded in 2024. Many of the largest occupancies were tied to advanced manufacturing investments and reshoring initiatives.
Tenants moved into 36 facilities larger than 1 million square feet, including Panasonic's 4.7-million-square-foot electric vehicle battery plant in Kansas, a 2.8-million-square-foot Ultium Cells battery facility in Michigan and Samsung's 2.8-million-square-foot semiconductor plant in Texas. More than one-third of these mega facilities were build-to-suit developments or user purchases.
Regionally, activity was strongest across the Midwest, Southeast and West. The Midwest recorded the largest volume of bulk occupancies at 105 million square feet, up 53% year over year, while the Southeast saw 96 million square feet of occupancies, also rising more than 50%. The West posted the highest number of move-ins, with 404 facilities totaling 100 million square feet.
Demand expanded across building sizes, with the fastest growth occurring in facilities between 500,000 and 749,999 square feet, where occupancies increased 47% year over year.
Colliers expects the recent pickup in leasing activity to support further growth in bulk occupancies in 2026 as newly leased space and build-to-suit projects are delivered, helping bring supply and demand closer into balance.
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