AZRE Magazine
A new report released by the NAIOP Research Foundation says that net demand for industrial space could reach 250 million square feet in 2014, surpassing the near-record level of 233 million square feet set in 2013. This significant level of absorption is due to the expected return of housing construction, which requires warehouse space for building materials, appliances and furniture; the continued expansion of e-commerce which shifts goods from retail stock rooms to fulfillment and distribution centers; and the improving economy expected to grow by more than 3 percent.
“Demand for all types of industrial space – warehouse, fulfillment/distribution center, manufacturing and flex – is robust,” said Thomas J. Bisacquino, president and CEO of NAIOP, the Commercial Real Estate Development Association. “An intense increase in e-commerce has steepened the demand for distribution and fulfillment centers, and companies are gobbling up space as a result.”
