Chicago Industrial Demand Keeps Pace with New Supply

Chicago-area industrial topped off a strong 2019 with another quarter of positive absorption, and vacancy hovering near the five-year low recorded at midyear, NAI Hiffman reported in its “Fourth Quarter 2019 Market Peek.” Although vacancies increased marginally in Q4, NAI Hiffman attributes that to a handful of speculative projects that delivered vacant during 2019’s last three months.

Despite the surge in supply, industrial users continue to fill space almost as fast as it’s built, according to NAI Hiffman data. Net absorption totaled 17.1 million square feet in 2019, 17.3% above 2018’s total of 14.6 million square feet.

“Retail and e-commerce giants like Amazon and Target continue to grab headlines, but it’s the ripple effect of these marquee deals that is driving a lot of the activity in the Chicago area as users small and large retool supply chains to facilitate faster deliveries,” said Michael Flynn, COO at NAI Hiffman.

As seen at Connect Chicago.