91视频

When the U.S. Postal Service needed a large parcel of land so that it could vacate prime Portland real estate coveted for development, the search became a struggle.

鈥淭he main requirement was we needed north of 45 acres to fit the facility on,鈥� said Bruce Wood, real estate and construction services manager for the Portland Development Commission. 鈥淭here were very few 45-acre sites that were available. And when I say available, I mean shovel-ready.鈥�

That is reflective of the booming industrial market here, along with limited available land. The vacancy rate for industrial space in Portland fell to its lowest level ever in the first quarter of 2016 鈥� 3.6 percent, according to Jones Lang LaSalle. Meanwhile, rents are rising.

鈥淭he Portland industrial market is the tightest it has ever been in terms of vacancy,鈥� said Tyler Sheils, vice president of industrial real estate at JLL.

鈥淭he strong demand from users coupled with limited industrial land sites is pushing development outside the traditional core industrial areas, and it’s going further north and south along Interstate 5, and east along I-84,鈥� he added.

Approximately 2.5 million square feet of industrial space is under construction in Portland, and 50 percent is already preleased.

Competition is fierce for spaces bigger than 100,000 square feet.

鈥淲e’re very limited in large industrial parcels of land,鈥� Sheils said. 鈥淔or these larger occupiers, they need options in our market.鈥�

Trammell Crow Co. and Clarion Partners are behind the largest current local industrial project 鈥� a 600,000-square-foot Subaru distribution facility at Gresham Vista Business Park, south of I-84. Trammell Crow will lease the property to the automaker. The auto-parts distribution facility is on 221 acres purchased by the Port of Portland in 2011.

The port and the city of Gresham boasted of the site’s size, access to I-84, favorable soils and 鈥渟hovel-ready鈥� status.

However, Steve Wells, senior managing director of Trammell Crow, said Portland is beginning to lose tenants to other cities where more land is available.

鈥淚n the past, I don’t think that was the case,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t was challenging to find a location that would work for Subaru, and I think it’s going to get more and more challenging.鈥�

Trammell Crow lost a potential tenant that sought 260,000 square feet, Wells said. He declined to identify the company, which ended up in Seattle.

鈥淲e’re getting to the point where we’ll certainly lose people that would otherwise occupy here but can’t,鈥� he said.

The lack of land is leading industrial developers to take second looks at some sites, Wells said. Before Trammell Crow could build its Colwood Industrial Park, the property had to be rezoned and wetlands had to be filled. Extra steps can be a turnoff for prospective tenants, who often want to move quickly.

Nevertheless, industrial demand is continuing apace and developers are busy.

Capstone Partners is developing phase II of its PDX Logistics Center near Portland International Airport. Construction of the 355,200-square-foot space is on track to finish next month, said Chris Nelson, co-founder of Capstone. UPS has signed on to lease about 240,000 square feet for a sorting facility. A second major industrial tenant will be announced soon, Nelson said.

Capstone plans to break ground in June on phase III, with delivery scheduled for August 2017.

Phase I, completed in 2014, is a 491,200-square-foot facility that attracted KeHE Distributors, a large natural foods distributor whose clients include Albertsons and New Seasons. KeHE took the larger, 380,000-square-foot building. Ernest Packaging Solutions occupies the smaller building.

鈥淲e’re seeing good growth in the infrastructure that supports the distribution of packages in the market,鈥� Nelson said.

Much of the growth in industrial properties is a reflection of population increases, he added.

鈥淕rowth in the general economy is fundamentally driving most of it,鈥� he said.

Rent for industrial space averaged $0.53 per square foot in the first quarter, according to JLL. That was a 4 percent increase from the previous quarter.

The Postal Service’s Colwood property purchase has reverberated through the market by removing a large parcel from Portland’s inventory.

鈥淭he effect on the general industrial property market is noticeable,鈥� JLL stated in an April report.

As a result, developers are more willing to build speculative projects. They made up 61.5 percent of the market in the first quarter, JLL said.

The Postal Service had a number of unique challenges, Wood said. One was high standards for soils. Another was local tax revenue.

鈥淚t was very important for the (Postal Service) to feel welcome, given it’s a federal facility that doesn’t pay taxes,鈥� he said.

The agency considered a site in Troutdale, but the city 鈥渨anted a large payment in lieu of taxes being deferred,鈥� Wood said, noting that the Colwood site was chosen in large part because of its proximity to Portland International Airport.

Industry observers said larger parcels are in particularly high demand.

鈥淚t’s harder to find the 鈥楢’ location sites,鈥� Nelson said. 鈥淔or the larger users, they’re having to go to more secondary locations. That’s not to say they’re bad; they’re just not quite as central.鈥�

Portland is a center for industrial development, driven by population and easy transportation access thanks to north-south and east-west interstates, Portland International Airport and the ports of Portland and Vancouver, Wash.

Other projects are under construction.

鈥� Specht Properties Inc. of Portland is building 800,000 square feet at Portside Industrial Park in Vancouver as a speculation. The first phase, 257,609 square feet, is expected to be delivered late this year, according to JLL.

鈥� Specht also is building a 50,400-square-foot facility for Comcast in the Colwood area. The Comcast fulfillment facility is about 50 percent office space. And Specht owns 107 acres planned for development near I-5 in Woodburn. A Specht executive could not be reached for comment.

鈥� In Clackamas, Industrial Property Trust is building the Clackamas Distribution Center, a 190,600-square-foot facility. The distribution center is 100 percent preleased, according to JLL.

鈥� PacTrust is building several structures at the Koch Corporate Center in Tualatin. Building 1 is 201,300 square feet. Two smaller buildings are 45,000 and 60,000 square feet, respectively.

鈥� At Majestic Brookwood Business Park in Hillsboro, the 303,360-square-foot Building 3 is scheduled for delivery this summer. The project is being developed by California’s Majestic Realty Co.

鈥� Precision Construction is building in Hillsboro a 104,541-square-foot expansion for film company Laika.

Sheils said the extent of preleasing in the market is a strong indicator that sufficient pent-up demand exists to last at least through 2016.

鈥淭he question will be: Can new construction keep up with demand?鈥� he said.