Older Warehouse Properties Still Serve Purpose

According to an article published by the National Real Estate Investor publication, as of January 2015, older warehouses that may be deemed obsolete by today’s standards, can still serve useful purpose to local retail merchants. 

Industrial real estate is subject to the whims of the national and global economies, as imports and exports wax and wane with the crisis of the day, week or month. There have been indications that economic slowdowns overseas have undermined growth at some of the major ports and larger airports in the United States. And as retailers move to be closer to customers, some intermediate warehouse points have suffered modest retrenchment. That the Amazon distribution model has impacted the warehouse market goes without saying. A number of older warehouse properties have been tagged as obsolete. But even locally-based brick-and-mortar retailers still need warehouse space in many of the same places they have always been – near population centers where people shop. Demand for industrial space has been growing, particularly in gateway markets. Economic recovery and an upward trajectory in consumer spending on furniture and electronics especially, has led to absorption of space in major markets, and there has been considerable “trickle-down”effect in secondary markets