Last year was a big one for the Louisville industrial market, with the region posting the fourth largest annual absorption number in its history, according to the latest research from CBRE.
CBRE reported that the Louisville market absorbed more than 2.5 million square feet during the year. The 947,963 square feet of positive absorption in the fourth quarter gave Louisville its 11th straight quarter with positive industrial absorption.
The vacancy rate for industrial property in the Louisville market ended the year at 7.1 percent. But the area’s largest industrial submarket, the Southside/Airport market, enjoyed a far lower 3.2 percent vacancy rate.
Developers were busy last year, too. CBRE reported that they added just more than 4 million square feet of industrial product in the Louisville area in 2017. Developers are on pace to deliver another 4.6 million square feet of industrial space during the first half of 2018. This includes a 1.46-million-square-foot facility in the Southside/Airport market.
Some of the bigger transactions in the fourth quarter were a 328,669-square-foot lease in the Riverport submarket, and a 317,000-square-foot sale in downtown Louisville and a 256,000-square-foot sale in Riverport.
In another big deal, Ring Container, a manufacturer of plastic containers, leased 155,490 square feet in the Riverport Distribution Center at 5808 Johnsontown Road.
“Investors and users are continuing to be attracted to industrial product, and the strong market Louisville offers means we can expect to see this high level of activity continue in 2018,” said Kevin Grove, senior vice president with CBRE, in a statement.
