DC Velocity - March 2015

Dearborn Mid-West Co. (DMW) has opened its new Material Handling Systems Division in central New Jersey. … Jervis B.

Webb Co., a provider of material handling solutions, has introduced System Automation Manager (SAM), a control system for automated guided vehicles and SmartCart Automatic Guided Carts. … Supply chain management company Ceva Logistics has opened a new location in Richmond, British Columbia, near the Vancouver International Airport, the Port of Vancouver, and major road arteries. … Old Dominion Freight Line Inc. has opened an expanded service center in Oshkosh, Wis., as well as a new service center in Watertown, S.D. … Crowley Maritime Corp.’s liner services group is deploying hundreds of pieces of new equipment, including chassis, ISO tanks, and high-cube containers, for use in the company’s services between the U.S., Puerto Rico, the Caribbean, and Central America. … Orbis Corp.

has opened its newest manufacturing facility, in Silao, Guanajuato, Mexico. … Akro-Mils, a North American provider of storage, organization, and transport products, has announced that its Super-Size AkroBins are now available in gray. … Forklift maker Combilift Ltd. plans to invest $50 million over the next two years in a new manufacturing facility in Ireland. … Datalogic, a provider of automatic data capture and industrial automation, has introduced the Heron HD3100 linear imager. … Battery Handling Systems Inc. has released an animated video reviewing the company’s activities and accomplishments in 2014. ... Crown Equipment Corp. has opened two direct Crown Lift Trucks sales and service locations in Springfield and Carterville, Mo., and completed construction of a new office building at its global headquarters in New Bremen, Ohio. … Cushman & Wakefield’s Industrial Services for the Americas and Research for the Americas teams have released a report, “Reality Check: Evaluating Seven Industrial Real Estate Predictions.”

short takes

The U.S. industrial property market capped off a solid year with a strong fourth quarter, according to a report issued in mid-February by real estate and logistics services giant Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL). Steadily rising tenant demand combined with “generally measured” construction deliveries drove vacancy rates below the previous cycle’s lows, which were recorded in 2007, the report said.

Average 2014 “asking rents” for warehouse and distribution center, manufacturing, transportation, and logistics space rose 4. 5 percent from 2013 levels. Rents are nearing the last cycle’s highs, which were reached about 10 years ago, and further increases are expected in 2015, according to the firm’s industrial outlook.

The industrial vacancy rate in the fourth quarter stood at 6. 9 percent, down a full percentage point from the same period a year ago, JLL said. Net absorption, defined as the amount of occupied space less the amount of space vacated, was positive for the 19th consecutive quarter, with 61. 2 million square feet. Net absorption for the year hit 219 million square feet, up 30 percent from 2013 and ahead of the firm’s original projection of 185 million square feet, the report said.

Vacancy rates in 2015 are expected to narrow as much as another one-half percentage point to 6. 4 percent, the report said.

New deliveries, a barometer of construction activity, totaled 142.1 million square feet, up 56. 5 percent from 2013, the report said. Although new deliveries may hit 171 million square feet this year, they are still below the last cycle’s annual average of 184 million.

Speculative construction, which ground to a halt during and after the Great Recession before finally perking up, rose 12. 3 percent in the fourth quarter compared with the prior quarter. Despite the gains and the fact that “new groundbreakings are not showing any signs of letting up” nationwide, the market shows few signs of overheating, the report said.

JLL said the story of the year was the Southeast, whose recovery had lagged behind the rebound in the rest of the country. Annual net absorption for the Southeast hit 47. 9 million square feet, up 85 percent from 2013 levels. Much of the gain, the report said, was fueled by activity in Atlanta, where annual absorption figures were more than double 2013’s totals and vacancy rates were reminiscent of the late 1990s, when the metro area reported significant population gains and demand for space was strong across a wide range of industries.