SLC registers strong demand, limited supply in industrial RE

Fourteen U.S. markets, including Salt Lake City, stand out in a new report from CBRE as strategic options for investors in industrial and logistics real estate who are seeking growth opportunities outside of primary markets.

These markets, which CBRE describes as strategic markets, have registered demand for industrial and logistics real estate that outpaced their supply by a collective 89 million square feet since 2013. In the same span, their industrial rents have increased by an average of 25.2 percent. Salt Lake City is included on the list as one of the markets posting lower-than-average vacancy rates and high aggregate rent growth.

“For several years now, Salt Lake’s increase in demand has been fueled by many factors: the size of the users is constantly increasing, as well as the number of users in the 100,000-square-foot-plus range; the market is fueled by e-commerce, third-party logistics, life sciences, construction supply and more,” said Jeff Richards, senior vice president and local industrial and logistics specialist. “We have a truly diverse economy which leads to a truly diverse tenant mix. And on top of all of that, Salt Lake City is strategically located at the crossroads of I-15 and I-80, right in the center of the Intermountain region. All of these influences have contributed to our strong growth in the industrial and logistics sector.” 

Leading the strategic markets are seven that report industrial vacancy rates below or only slightly above the national average (4.3 percent) and aggregate rent growth of 6.1 percent in the past year. Included are Las Vegas, Salt Lake City, Milwaukee, Reno, St. Louis, El Paso and Detroit.