Industrial Real Estate News

ATLANTA — Home Depot yesterday opened the first of three new direct fulfillment centers designed to speed online orders to consumers through distribution channels across its supply chain.

Shippers are expected to make bolder moves in recalibrating their supply chains’ real estate footprint this year, even if many traditional retailers are still determining how to take advantage of the e-commerce rush.

The industrial real estate market in Southern California’s Inland Empire — the most sought-after location in the country for warehouses and distribution centers — is in near-perfect harmony right now.

When Jeffrey H. Schwartz looks to China, he sees a land brimming with logistics opportunities — billions of dollars in opportunities, in fact.

Suggesting that pressure is growing to deliver faster to e-commerce customers, Home Depot said it will be build three direct fulfillment centers around the country that will enable it to ship orders up to 5 PM on the day they are received.

With online sales soaring 45 percent in the third quarter, Southern retail chain Belk is expanding its e-commerce distribution and fulfilllment network.

The rapid growth of e-commerce in China is a facet of the robust domestic consumption fueling demand for modern logistics facilities, according to Jeffrey H. Schwartz of Global Logistics Properties.

The dramatic growth of e-commerce is driving demand for a product that can’t be obtained online — big box e-fulfillment centers.

Major retailers are opening new omnichannel fulfillment centers larger than 500,000 square feet in areas offering access to key population centers.

Block Real Estate Services has started construction on its newest industrial park, Lenexa Logistics Centre, in Lenexa, Kan.

OOCL has leased 50,000 square feet of office space in the RiverPark 7 building in South Jordan, Utah.

The Carlyle Group and The Townsend Group have partnered with Shanghai Yupei Group to invest in 17 warehouses in China, representing a combined equity commitment of $400 million.

The U.S. industrial real estate market performed “well” during the first half of 2013, highlighted by year-over-year increases in transaction volume and revenue in many markets...

OnTrac has decided to expand its San Diego operation to support increased volume.

NFI, a New Jersey-based supply chain company, and Hillwood, a real estate developer, have broken ground on a distribution site in Pennsylvania’s Lehigh Valley, which will provide warehousing services on the East Coast.

Ozburn-Hessey Logistics has signed a 185,520 square foot industrial lease to fully occupy Pan American North Distribution Center in Medley, Fla., near Miami.

Mumbai-based international freight forwarder and terminal operator J.M. Baxi Group has opened a new intermodal container terminal in Sonepat, near Delhi, to serve the growing trade to and from northern India.

DEMDACO has entered into a long-term lease for a 326,650 square foot distribution center that will be custom built for the gift and home décor products company at Logistics Park Kansas City...

CenterPoint Properties has purchased six buildings, occupied by Exel Logistics, in Houston, for $42.6 million.

Exel has plans to establish a new $38 million distribution facility in the River Walk Business Park in York County, S.C.

Unprecedented trends in technology, demographics and infrastructure are transforming global supply chains across retail, industrial and logistics real estate sectors...

J.A. Billipp Co., a property and building developer, has teamed up with land owner Webber Properties to develop air cargo and other aviation-related facilities on 36.8 acres located near the north end of Ellington Airport in Texas.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey was judged the leading gateway for developers and users of industrial real estate in 2012 based upon its consistent cargo volumes and available blocks of industrial space within the immediate port area, according to a report by Jones Lang LaSalle.

Crawford Diamond Industrial Park, a 1,800-acre industrial site in Callahan, Fla., with dual Class I rail access, has received “megasite” certification from McCallum Sweeney Consulting.

After declining steadily for 30 years, manufacturing employment in the U.S. is stabilizing and will have a positive impact on the economy and on demand for industrial real estate space in the coming decade, according to a study by the NAIOP Research Foundation.

Norway’s sovereign wealth fund, NBIM, and the European arm of U.S. commercial property group Prologis have acquired a $385 million portfolio of warehouses in the U.K.

With pension funds and investment trusts buying more warehouses and distribution centers, “true” developers of industrial real estate are becoming harder to find, according to industry executives.

Rakuten Inc., operator of Japan’s biggest online shopping site, said on June 6 that it will acquire a 100% stake in midsize U.S. logistics company Webgistix to strengthen its e-commerce operations in that country.

The U.S. industrial real estate industry has entered a period of strong net absorption, declining vacancy rates and increasing rents for warehouse and distribution facilities, according to a top industry executive.

Lineage Logistics will begin construction of a new 420,000 square foot multi-use cold storage warehouse in Colton, Calif.

Brookfield Asset Management, through its private equity group, has acquired the stock of Millard Refrigerated Services – Canada.

Antwerp, Rotterdam and Düsseldorf are the best logistics hubs in Europe, but they face a growing challenge from emerging hubs in the east of the continent, according to a report by Colliers International, a global commercial real estate company.

The Railway Association of Canada and the Federation of Canadian Municipalities have unveiled land use guidelines and a website intended to promote best practices and awareness about the issues...

Lineage Logistics, the world’s second-largest cold storage company, has added another space to its portfolio, acquiring the real estate and assets of a facility in University Park, Ill. Financial terms of the transaction weren not disclosed.

Every month’s dose of inventory data produces a flood of analysis and opinions about what it means. Are stockpiles too high or too low? Do companies need to reorder? Are they optimistic or pessimistic about demand?