Yes, the number of new leases slowed in the fourth quarter for the Milwaukee industrial sector. But the local industrial market also showed resilience during the end of 2024, notching an increase of 70% in leasing volume on a quarter-over-quarter basis.
JLL in its fourth quarter 2024 Milwaukee industrial overview, said that the Milwaukee market saw 341,000 square feet of new industrial leases in the final quarter of last year and an average asking rent that reached a new high of $5.53 a square foot net.
This doesn’t mean that JLL’s fourth quarter report only contained good news. JLL said that vacancy rates in the Milwaukee industrial market increased to 5.3% in the fourth quarter of last year, compared to 4.2% in the same quarter a year earlier.
Still, a vacancy rate of 5.3% is still low. The increase in vacancy rates during the fourth quarter was the result of a small number of large give-backs and speculative deliveries from earlier in the year, according to JLL.
JLL reported that four new speculative industrial buildings totaling 967,000 square feet were completed in 2024, with 66% of that space still on the market.
The Milwaukee industrial market’s vacancy rate actually improved from its peak of 5.8% recorded in the second quarter of 2024.
The largest industrial transaction in the Milwaukee market last year took place at 11800 W. Burleigh St. in Wauwatosa, where Harley-Davidson leased 153,000 square feet in the fourth quarter. This was one of four industrial leases exceeding 100,000 square feet signed in 2024.
JLL predicts that the industrial vacancy rate in the Milwaukee market could fall by even more in 2025. That’s because only two speculative industrial buildings totaling 335,000 square feet are under construction in the market. Nearly 1.5 million square feet of industrial construction underway now is build-to-suit and owner-built projects.
