By Taylor Williams Although the Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) industrial market is, objectively speaking, currently overbuilt, the recovery and return to healthy dynamics is already taking shape. As that unfolds, manufacturing facilities are having a moment. According to CBRE’s third-quarter data, between 2021 and 2023 — the height of the post-COVID e-commerce craze that coincided with the last days of historically low interest rates — developers in DFW added nearly 130 million square feet of new industrial product. The supply boom mostly involved warehouse and distribution facilities, and absorption of new deliveries was coming along until this spring, when Liberation Day injected a staggering dose of economic uncertainty into the market. In recent weeks, leasing activity has begun to pick back up. But investors looking to deploy capital into industrial assets see more upside on deals for manufacturing facilities at the moment, whether that means buying existing plants with heavy built-in power sources or targeting distribution buildings that can support manufacturing through light conversions. Editor’s note: InterFace Conference Group, a division of France Media Inc., produces networking and educational conferences for commercial real estate executives. To sign up for email announcements about specific events, visit www.interfaceconferencegroup.com/subscribe. At the annual DFW/North Central Industrial Texas conference …
