The industrial market has always been a strong one for Cleveland. That isn’t changing anytime soon, according to the latest research from Marcus & Millichap.
According to the company’s latest Cleveland industrial report, the industrial vacancy rate here should fall to 4.2 percent during 2017, which would be a record low for this sector. Marcus & Millichap is predicting net absorption of 1.2 million square feet for the Cleveland industrial sector this year.
The falling vacancy rate means that asking rents will rise. Marcus & Millichap predicts that average asking rents for Cleveland industrial properties will rise to $4.05 a square foot this year. This follows a 2.7 percent increase in asking rents recorded in 2016.
Vacancies should continue to fall while asking rents should rise into 2018. Why? There hasn’t been enough industrial construction in the Cleveland area to meet demand.
The largest development is a 347,000-square-foot Riddell manufacturing facility in the community of North Ridgeville. Ridelle, a maker of football equipment, plans to move from both of its existing spaces – one within the Cleveland metropolitan area and the other in Illinois – to the new location by the end of 2017.