Industrial Sector Update 2/7/2016

Industrial Properties Continue to Gain Momentum in the US Market

The industrial sector rose to tie with the multifamily sector at the end of 2015 for the most desired U.S. property type by foreign investors. In addition, speculative construction hit pre-recession levels, and almost half of the 130 million square feet of planned construction is already pre-leased. The national industrial availability rate dropped to 9.4 percent, maintaining the 23 consecutive quarter streak of falling vacancy rates. But having such great returns for a long period of time has driven investors to be wary of the market, with many speculating that the expansion cycle may be reaching an end. But according to John Morris, the logistics and industrial services lead for the Americas at Cushman & Wakefield, although we are seeing yellow flags in the market, there are indicators that signal more expansion to come. For example, the massive increase in foreign capital coming into the market and the large amount of class-B property out for sale are signaling that we have yet to reach the end of this massive expansion cycle. With the shift to e-commerce driving up the demand for industrial space and organisations like Chicago-based Brennan Investment Group developing multi-million square foot logistic parks, it is safe to say that we should still be keeping an eye out for more stunning statistics coming from the industrial sector.

http://nreionline.com/industrial/industrial-sector-ends-2015-still-middle-innings http://nreionline.com/industrial/industrial-sector-ends-2015-still-middle-innings

Auto Industry Driving the Return of Domestic Manufacturing

From 2000 to 2014 there were virtually no new auto plants constructed in North America. But in 2015 almost one-third of the world’s new auto plants under construction are in North America, a large portion of which are located within the United States. This is all in an effort to streamline processes and reduce costs to manufacturers, which has become especially important with the emergence of electric and self-driving cars in the market. Nevada has become a hotspot for these sites, with Tesla motors recently announcing the construction of a $5 billion lithium-ion battery factory and competitor Faraday Future selecting North Las Vegas for the site of its $1 billion plant. Both sites attracted over $340 million in tax incentives and subsidies from the state, which has established itself as a strong national competitor for new manufacturing facilities. Over the past several years, General Motors, Honda, Nissan-Renault and Mercedes-Benz have opened offices in the San Francisco Bay area. With the close proximity of these offices to potential manufacturing sites in Nevada there is a strong promise of more developments to come. With these auto plant developments comes the promise of over 5,300 new jobs and the rise of the automotive industry in the United States once again.

http://nreionline.com/industrial/whats-behind-recent-rise-auto-plant-development http://nreionline.com/industrial/whats-behind-recent-rise-auto-plant-development