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AlabamaGeorgiaIndustrialMarket ReportsNorth CarolinaSouth CarolinaSoutheastSoutheast Market ReportsVirginia

Tariffs Are Moving the Needle for Manufacturing, Distribution Demand on the I-85 Industrial Corridor

by John Nelson

More than seven months have passed since Liberation Day, where the Trump administration declared a sweeping package of tariffs for foreign trade partners and specific commodities, including steel and aluminum. Since the announcement in early April, there has been a boon in the amount of multibillion-dollar advanced manufacturing, life sciences, semiconductor and data center investment announcements around the country, with the markets along the I-85 Industrial Corridor being no exception.  To name a few: Toyota has recently begun production at its $13.9 billion battery plant in Liberty, N.C.; Rivian broke ground on its $5 billion electric vehicle plant near Social Circle, Ga.; JetZero is planning to create 14,500 jobs for an aerospace manufacturing facility in Greensboro, N.C.; Eli Lilly is developing a $5 billion pharmaceutical manufacturing facility in the Richmond suburb of Goochland County, Va.; and Google is developing a trio of data centers in metro Richmond’s Chesterfield County. “We have incredible momentum bringing business back into the United States, which is going to drive industrial growth, particularly in the Southeast,” says Jim Anthony, CEO and founder of APG Companies. “We’re not unionized, we have lower taxes, fewer regulations and lower cost of energy, which is huge factor in site …

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District of ColumbiaMarket ReportsRestaurantRetailSoutheastSoutheast Market Reports

D.C. Retail Remains a Great Opportunity, If You Know Where to Look

by John Nelson

The Washington, D.C., commercial real estate market is intricate, shaped by broad economic trends and local dynamics. The recent federal government shutdown underscored ongoing challenges, intensifying uncertainty and slowing local transactions. Continued ambiguity around trade and tariff policies further complicates business planning, adding to the region’s cautious dealmaking environment. Anxiety affects the region’s key economic source: federal workers and contractors, who make up 40 percent of its economy. Since January 2025, federal job losses here have outpaced the national average, increasing the risk of a local slowdown. Despite the area’s wealth, ongoing job uncertainty should guide all investment and operational choices. The interplay between federal employment trends and local business activity means that investors and operators must remain vigilant, adapting strategies to respond to shifting workforce dynamics and consumer sentiment. Tale of two marketsThe D.C. retail market is split: downtown faces challenges due to office vacancies and low weekday traffic, while suburban and residential-heavy urban areas are thriving. Affluent spots in Northern Virginia and Suburban Maryland have the lowest vacancy rates thanks to stable local shoppers. These areas benefit from consistent foot traffic and resilient spending patterns, which help insulate them from broader economic volatility. From a capital markets perspective, …

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IndianaIndustrialMarket ReportsMidwestMidwest Market Reports

Modern Facilities Boost Growth of Indianapolis Industrial Market

by Kristin Harlow

By Jeremy Woods and Gwen Rodenberger, CBRE Indianapolis industrial leasing activity in January may have started as cold as the winter temperatures, but activity has only gotten hotter, even as fall wanes into winter. Indiana at one point called itself the Crossroads of America, and the moniker holds true today. Indianapolis is strategically located in the center of the state, with four major interstates running through it. The city’s businesses also benefit because of the second-largest FedEx hub at its airport. As a result, businesses can easily ship to most of the continental U.S. within three days, minimizing outbound shipping costs.  In January, occupiers requiring 1 million square feet of distribution space in Indianapolis would have six first-generation shells (equivalent of 104 football fields) to choose from. If you could live with a bit less space, roughly 900,000 to 975,000 square feet, another three options could be added to the tour (adding an additional 47 football fields). Fast forward just three quarters to today, and five of the nine “mega-bulk” warehouses, as they are aptly named, are 100 percent occupied. Even the most seasoned experts would not have predicted the speed at which these spaces would be absorbed. In these …

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Wells-Fargo-Irving
Market ReportsTexasTexas Market Reports

Texas Economic Development Professionals Focus on Quality of Life

by Taylor Williams

By Taylor Williams “Economic development is the process of improving the economic well-being and quality of life for a community or nation through strategies like job creation, infrastructure development and advancements in education and health.” That’s the first sentence of the AI-driven overview that results from a simple Google search of the term “economic development.” And admittedly, that’s a very good start.  Economic development is rooted in economics, a field that embodies the study of business, industry, jobs and wealth. The Google definition also pays tribute to the behind-the-scenes infrastructural work that is required to jumpstart and sustain most business endeavors, particularly regarding commercial real estate. And lastly, it covers what which may be the most important, end-all goal of economic development work: elevated quality of life for the people who live in, work at and patronize those commercial establishments.  It’s that last part of the definition that appears to represent a growing niche and focal point within the spectrum of economic development work in Texas. Quality-of-life initiatives can be manifested in an array ofcommercial settings: housing, entertainment, food-and-beverage, hospitality. And as economic development professionals embrace many different roles — ambassadors of their communities, liaisons with developers and business owners, …

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IndustrialLouisianaMarket ReportsSoutheastSoutheast Market Reports

Steady Amid Constraints: The Greater New Orleans Industrial Market

by John Nelson

The Greater New Orleans industrial real estate market in 2025 is characterized by steady but cautious demand, where a persistent lack of new supply continues to limit product availability and constrain tenant options despite a user base that shows signs of wanting to grow. While local prospects for business are good, tenants seem to be keeping a wary eye on national economic trends. Interest rates have increased borrowing costs, prompting tenants to delay expansions and relocations as they navigate tighter budgets. Decision making is further slowed by uncertainty surrounding potential tariffs and their possible effects on material costs that could ripple through supply chains. High insurance premiums in a region affected by hurricanes force operators to reallocate funds from growth initiatives to coverage. Construction costs remain elevated; combined with a scarcity of viable development sites, speculative builds are extremely rare, which keeps inventory tight. These headwinds, some of which should sound familiar in other markets around the country, have slowed deal velocity, though there are projects in the works that can build momentum in South Louisiana. The $1.8 billion Louisiana International Terminal (LIT) in St. Bernard Parish, a public-private partnership with Ports America and Terminal Investment Ltd., begins construction in …

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IndustrialMarket ReportsMidwestMidwest Market ReportsWisconsin

Milwaukee Industrial Market: Steady Demand, New Opportunities

by Kristin Harlow

By David Hodge and Tom Nickols, NAI Pfefferle While the national headlines often focus on trends such as rising vacancies and cooling rent growth, Milwaukee and its surrounding metros are telling a different story. Here resilience defines the market, and in some cases, opportunities are emerging due to our strategic location, balanced development and supportive business climate. Rate cuts change landscape The Federal Reserve’s recent rate cuts have altered the investment landscape. For the first time in years, capital markets are starting to unlock. Lower borrowing costs are already sparking new conversations with investors who had been sitting and waiting on the sidelines. This adjustment matters. Refinancing options are improving for property owners, development projects are resurfacing after being shelved for high financing costs and capital is beginning to flow again.  For occupiers, rate cuts also open doors. Lower borrowing costs for developers encourage new construction and tailored build-to-suit options. This ultimately expands the range of available facilities and results in a healthier environment where tenants can negotiate from a position of choice rather than constraint. While many national markets remain hampered by an oversupply of speculative space, Milwaukee’s pipeline positions it for long-term strength compared to its peers. Local …

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Cain-Watters-Frisco
Market ReportsOfficeTexasTexas Market Reports

Dallas-Fort Worth’s Financial Market Drives Office Usage, Design Innovation

by Taylor Williams

By Joshua Metzger, studio director, principal, Gensler The Emerging Trends in Real Estate 2026 publication jointly released by PwC and the Urban Land Institute (ULI) found that North Texas benefitted from more than 100 corporate headquarters relocations between 2018 and 2024, drawn by a business-friendly climate, robust infrastructure and a growing talent pool. The launch of the Texas Stock Exchange (TXSE), Nasdaq Texas and the reincorporation of the New York Stock Exchange’s regional office from Chicago to Dallas as NYSE Texas are further cementing the area’s status as a financial powerhouse. JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, Charles Schwab and Fidelity are among the top employers in North Texas, while Wells Fargo recently opened a new $455 million campus in Las Colinas. All this momentum and more has made Y’all Street — the moniker used to contrast Texas’ growing market to Wall Street — the second-largest financial services market in the country, trailing only New York City. The sublease availability of office space in Dallas has dropped to 3.6 percent of total inventory, signaling strong demand and confidence in the market. The Dallas neighborhoods of Uptown and Turtle Creek are bracing for a surge in development, while suburban mixed-use projects continue to thrive. …

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LouisianaMarket ReportsOfficeSoutheastSoutheast Market Reports

New Orleans CBD Continues to Transition from Office-Centric to 24/7 Destination

by John Nelson

One cannot talk about, analyze, nor understand the New Orleans Central Business District (CBD) office market without a corresponding discussion of the entire CBD, not just the office building submarket. This is especially true when we look at the evolution of the New Orleans CBD since the late 1980s, and, more specifically to this article, since Hurricane Katrina.  The New Orleans CBD office market is still the largest office submarket in this region. The submarket contains approximately 10.3 million rentable square feet. The balance of our submarkets (East Metairie, West Metairie, Kenner, Elmwood, West Bank, New Orleans East and the Northshore) contain a total of 8.6 million rentable square feet.  More importantly, the CBD remains home for most of New Orleans’ “corporate” tenants, virtually all the region’s major law firms and financial institutions. That is the good news.  However, the CBD has been transformed over the past 30+ years — and especially for the past two decades after Hurricane Katrina — from a traditional office-centric CBD to a mixed-use downtown area. The supply of office space in the CBD has shrunk from 70 buildings and 16.5 million rentable square feet in 1991, to 50 buildings and 13.8 million rentable square …

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Data CentersIndustrialMarket ReportsSoutheastSoutheast Market ReportsVirginia

Richmond’s Industrial Market Is an Institutional Capital Darling

by John Nelson

The Richmond industrial market has been undergoing a dramatic transformation that reads like a case study in strategic positioning and timing. Over the past decade, this “regional market” has become a U.S. powerhouse, boasting all the ingredients to attract, maintain and organically grow supply-chain focused global occupiers and institutional capital investment. Richmond’s strategic advantages include its prime location on I-95 — equidistant to both metropolitan D.C. and the Port of Virginia — attractive labor demographics, disciplined development and strong demand from Fortune 100 occupiers. Additionally, the surging data center hyperscalers and their suppliers have further catalyzed growth in the market. The result? Richmond now features one of the lowest U.S. vacancy rates, sustained year-over-year rent growth, a feeding frenzy of institutional capital routinely producing 10 to 15 bids and lender quotes per property that have fundamentally reshaped who owns, develops and finances industrial real estate in the market. From regional player to national stage Over the past decade, Richmond experienced a 68 percent increase in institutional investors and lenders, growing from 47 participants in 2015 to nearly 80 unique institutions that have invested in and loaned on Richmond industrial assets, with 50 cents of every dollar invested in Richmond coming from …

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Market ReportsMidwestMidwest Market ReportsOfficeWisconsin

Milwaukee Office Market Proves That Resilience Sparks Reinvention

by Kristin Harlow

By Matt Hunter, Hunter Real Estate Milwaukee’s office market, like many others across the country, is in flux. Rising costs, shifting tenant demands and looming debt maturities are all testing the market’s strength. But out of that pressure comes reinvention, and Milwaukee is proving it’s up for the challenge. High-quality, well-located, amenity-rich office buildings are more important than ever. They’re essential to attracting and retaining top talent. Office buildings don’t just serve the tenants that occupy them, they grow the tax base, support local businesses, drive housing demand and help build a more vibrant and economically resilient city. One of the most defining features of Milwaukee’s current office market is what’s not happening: there’s virtually no new construction. With high interest rates, continually increasing construction costs and economic uncertainty, ground-up office development has largely stalled. This has created a limited supply of modern, Class A office space, just as tenants are placing greater emphasis on quality. That supply-demand imbalance is driving increased competition for top-tier buildings and putting upward pressure on rents in this high-end segment. Tenants want less space but better-quality space, and they’re willing to pay a premium for it. This is a significant opportunity for landlords of …

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