The San Diego industrial market is still thriving under sunny skies. The 146-million-square-foot industrial base is more than 95 percent occupied. Businesses continue to gobble up space even though rents have grown 6 percent to 8 percent annually since 2015. Though industrial markets around the country continue to do well thanks to a rapidly expanding logistics sector, San Diego’s industrial growth is broader based. Major contributions come from the defense, tech, electronics, cross-border commerce and biotech sectors. San Diego has several large submarkets, each with its own set of opportunities and challenges. South County, which includes Otay Mesa, has seen the strongest rent growth during the current economic recovery. Since the beginning of 2018, more than 591,000 square feet of state-of-the-art distribution space has been completed, with all but 45,000 square feet fully leased up. Recent transactions in Otay include a 198,000-square-foot lease to Zucarmex and the 174,000-square-foot expansion of US Joiner Trident Marine. The vacancy rate for South County stands at 4.33 percent, slightly under the countywide rate. Vacancy in North County is running somewhat higher at 6.72 percent. This is mainly due to recent deliveries in Carlsbad. A little more than 2.2 million square feet of new space …
