Louisville industrial market still rolling in third quarter

The Louisville industrial market enjoyed another sizzling three months, notching 814,012 square feet of positive net absorption in the third quarter of this year. According to research from CBRE, this marks the 18th consecutive quarter of positive net absorption in the industrial market.

With all this new activity, it’s little surprise that the industrial vacancy rate in Louisville decreased 50 basis points to a low 4.4 percent. Average asking rents increased to $3.88 a square foot by the end of the third quarter.

Don’t expect a slowdown in this market anytime soon. CBRE says there is now 3.4 million square feet of industrial projects under construction in the Louisville industrial market. A main driver of this? The ground-breaking of a 1.038-million-square-foot speculative facility in Bullitt County at the Bourbon Trail Logistics Center. This is the largest speculative industrial project in Louisville’s history.

“We had a very strong quarter and it looks like 2019 is going to be another overall strong year for the market,” said Kevin Grove, senior vice president with CBRE, in a written statement. “Developers are starting to push bigger projects, but with the vacancy rate as low as it is, some users need new options to meet their expansion needs.”