Northeast Ohio is experiencing a big jump in demand for industrial warehouse and distribution space. And the election of President Donald Trump could have something to do with that.
Terry Coyne of commercial real estate brokerage firm, Newmark Grubb Knight Frank, says last year developers built hundreds of thousands of square feet of manufacturing space, mostly without committed tenants. He says clients usually request space nine to 12 months in advance. But that changed after the election.
“You usually don’t move your warehouse, your manufacturing space, your office in 60 or 90 days; that’s poor planning. Well, I’m experiencing quite a few transactions like that where people are calling saying, 'I need space right away.' So maybe there’s a general positive feeling that the economy is going to continue going. We’re in the seventh year of expansion; at some point it’s typical you would see a recession, and I think a lot of people thought it was coming this year.”
Coyne says the anticipated economic surge could be partly from confidence in the new Trump administration, coupled with pent-up demand. He says about 12 percent of the regions’ 300 million square feet of industrial space is for distribution by large e-commerce companies. Late last year, Amazon moved into a new 248,000 square foot facility in Twinsburg.
