BioPharm and E-Commerce Warehouse Continue to Push Demand of Industrial Space

BOSTON– Above Graphic: As industrial assets typically have large floor areas situated on single floors, their footprints become enormous; while it may be hard to conceptualize how big Amazon’s one million sf in Fall River is, the reality is it would stretch from Arlington to Dartmouth Street and Boylston to Commonwealth Avenue in Boston’s Back Bay. Depicted are some additional assets, and how their footprints would look in Urban Boston.

Greater Boston continues to experience high levels of demand for industrial space, principally high-end manufacturing suites as well as accelerating consumption of well-located, high-quality product distribution space. Tenants have absorbed 8.9 million sf since mid-2012 as the region’s robust biopharmaceutical industry continues to rise in prominence as a consumer of production space and regional growth in population is principally driven by demographics with high levels of utilization of warehouse-intensive e-commerce retailers.

Despite occasional decreases in occupancy caused by large, singular events, such as this quarter’s shut down of the 117-year old New England Confectionary Company, strong organic growth on the part of the region’s industrial occupancy bases will likely continue to accelerate in future periods. As tenants are showing a newfound willingness to pay premiums for preferred facilities, developers may become more active in areas previously avoided for higher costs.

Read the full Industrial Report in Steel by Perry Brokerage