Industrial is strong in markets across the Midwest. But in Columbus? The industrial market is breaking records.
That’s the takeaway from the latest report from the Columbus office of Cassidy Turley.
According to the company’s 2014 fourth-quarter industrial market report, the industrial sector in the Columbus market ended the year with a vacancy rate of 6.71 percent. Modern bulk’s vacancy rate hit 4.70 percent, an all-time low.
The industrial market in the Columbus area enjoyed a fifth straight year of positive net absorption, according to Cassidy Turley. Throughout 2014, the market saw 4 million square feet of absorption. New deliveries accounted for 2.2 million square feet of this figure. Half of this came from spec industrial developments.
“The industrial market shows no signs of slowing down, and Columbus is well positioned to capture the opportunities and ride the momentum,” said Robin Mitchell, research analyst for Cassidy Turley’s Columbus office.
Cassidy Turley reported that industrial investment sales are hot, too, especially in Columbus’ Southeast market. The largest portfolio transaction was DCT Industrial Trust’s sale of 12 properties to Exeter, seven of which are in the Southeast. Exeter ended up with 3.5 million square feet of industrial space for $112 million.
The future looks just as positive for this market. Cassidy Turley reported that the industrial market in the Columbus area has 3.6 million square feet under construction, more than 2 million square feet of which is speculative. This includes VanTrust Real Estate’s 717,717-square-foot project in the Southeast market, the largest speculative development since the country’s economic downturn.
