CREJ

December 2020 — Office & Industrial Quarterly — Page 19 www.crej.com T he industrial distribution and manufacturing markets have existed as long as com- mercial real estate has been around. From the 1700s to 2020s, there has been a continuous need for buildings that focus on utilization and location. In recent times, industrial properties have taken on a variety of new defini- tions, definitions that appear to be evolving. Evolution is defined as “the gradual development of some- thing, especially from simple to a more complex form.” The industrial building of today is evolving! Industrial build- ing evolution is both in form and function. Historical definitions focused on trucks, trailers, clear height, drive in and dock doors. Location, location, location has been the historical real estate mantra. Now displacing location, loca- tion, location is Amazon, Amazon, Amazon. This single user, Amazon, is reshaping and redefining almost every industrial market in the coun- try. In the greater Los Angeles area alone, Amazon occupies almost 26 million square feet of space and has completed 61 transactions since 2012. Amazon has reported that at any one time it has over 1,000 transactions in process nationally. I would speculate that never in the history of the national industrial distribution market has a single user had such an impact on the industrial market around the Unit- ed States of America, or should it be called the United States of Amazon? Logistics is the current nomen- clature for what historically has been labeled as distribution. Just in time, last-mile delivery and sup- ply chain dynamics have provided a contemporary explanation of today’s very complex distribution patterns. Industrial has been called the new retail as every product from dog food to donuts is delivered to households daily. When manu- facturing is discussed, vision of the Ford assembly line come to mind Brad Calbert, ULI, NAIOP President, Colliers International, brad.calbert @colliers.com Amazon is the anchor tenant of Building 150, which is part of Encompass, a new business park in southeast Denver that features industrial, office and flex space. 2020 industrial market: Back to the future? INSIDE Market updates PAGES 20-22 Construction costs PAGE 35 Industrial redefined PAGE 25 While the unpredictability of 2020 made a mark, industrial properties are rebounding The five factors that impact industrial construction costs and when they’ll be felt Are industrial assets having “a moment” or redefining themselves for the long term? December 2020 Please see Page 37