By Daniel Galvan, SIOR, principal, Coldwell Banker Commercial RGV The Rio Grande Valley (RGV) industrial market continues to be very active despite a small, temporary slowdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic. With single-digit vacancy rates in both Hidalgo and Cameron counties, absorption is holding at a steady pace as available space has declined. To that point, the market saw approximately 250,000 square feet of net absorption in 2020. Rents have also continued to increase modestly with elevated demand, rising approximately 5 percent in the first quarter of 2021 relative to that period in 2020. However, that rate of growth should slow a bit in the coming months given that the market is still fraught with uncertainty due to COVID-19. Despite this uncertainty, we typically see upcoming vacancies continue to be filled prior to actually becoming vacant. While the agriculture industry continues to be a very large driver of absorption in the RGV’s industrial sector, there are more deals than ever for users that focus on consumer goods and fulfillment. There has also been a large amount of growth in demand from third-party logistics (3PL) companies and manufacturers. These users ultimately accounted for about 200,000 square feet of positive absorption in …
