By Kevin Stratman, Investors Realty
The Omaha industrial market is essentially at full occupancy.
Since 2016, the approximately 115 million-square-foot industrial market in Omaha has grown by an average of 3 to 4 million square feet per year. Yet, for a number of reasons, vacancy has consistently hovered around 3 percent.
Activity to start 2026 has created a real problem. In just the first quarter of the year, the market transacted over 1.3 million square feet across six properties. As a result, an already constrained vacancy rate is now approaching a critical point.
The roots of this issue trace back to 2024. That year, only four speculative construction projects over 100,000 square feet broke ground. For years, Omaha has faced ongoing sewer infrastructure challenges that have limited development in key areas.
At the same time, construction costs approached peak levels, and land prices escalated rapidly. This was driven in part by major build-to-suit activity from users such as FedEx and Amazon, as well as large-scale data center developments from Meta and Google, which collectively absorbed thousands of acres of land.
Given these conditions, developers made a logical decision to pause after what had been a historic run of construction. That pause resulted in approximately 1.1 million square feet of speculative product delivering in 2025.
Leasing activity to start 2025 was slow. Tariffs and broader national economic pressures created hesitation and slowed deal flow. By mid-year, the market found itself with available Class A inventory for the first time in quite some time. Compared to rising vacancy rates across other Midwest markets, it appeared that Omaha’s speculative cycle may have run its course. Reflecting that sentiment, only two speculative projects over 100,000 square feet broke ground in 2025.
Then the first quarter of 2026 happened.
In a short period of time, several major vacancies were absorbed. The largest speculative building in the market, a 408,000-square-foot cross-dock facility in Gretna, Nebraska, that NewStreet Properties completed in 2025, was leased. A Class B warehouse in Bellevue, Nebraska, formerly occupied by Blue Buffalo Co., was also leased. A 150,000-square-foot speculative warehouse developed by Century Development in the Northeast Omaha submarket near Eppley Airfield sold. The remaining vacancies at R&R Realty’s Commerce Park South were fully leased.
What had appeared to be a meaningful amount of available supply was absorbed almost overnight.
Future is bright
Despite these constraints, there is strong underlying optimism in the market. Omaha continues to benefit from its central location, direct access to Interstate 80 and Interstate 29, and a growing metropolitan population, which surpassed 1 million residents in 2025. These fundamentals continue to support both business expansion and industrial user growth.
Significant public and private investment is reinforcing that momentum. The ongoing expansion of
Eppley Airfield, a $1 billion project, will increase gate capacity, expand terminal space and modernize infrastructure. Project NEXT, the nearly $2 billion hospital development at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, will further establish Omaha as a regional healthcare hub.
At the same time, multiple Google data center campuses are under construction or expanding, alongside additional Meta data center developments. Mutual of Omaha’s new headquarters tower, which recently topped out, reflects continued confidence in the metro’s long-term growth.
These projects are not only transformative in their own right, but they also drive demand from construction trades, suppliers, logistics users and distribution companies. That demand has been a key contributor to recent industrial absorption and is unlikely to slow in the near term.
While the current environment presents challenges, it also reflects a market that is maturing. Approximately 700 acres of industrial land are currently in the development pipeline. National developers such as Scannell Properties and Opus are actively pursuing new opportunities and making meaningful investments, including selective speculative construction. Build-to-suit activity remains strong, and owner-users continue to be active in the land market.
Looking ahead, 2026 may ultimately prove to be more of a launching point than a low point. Nearly 2 million square feet of speculative projects over 100,000 square feet has either recently broken ground or is expected to do so this year. As the Omaha metro continues to grow, its industrial market is positioned to grow alongside it.
In many ways, the current conditions are less a sign of weakness and more a reflection of a market working through the challenges of sustained growth.
Kevin Stratman is an industrial broker with Investors Realty. This article originally appeared in the April 2026 issue of Heartland Real Estate Business magazine.