NEARLY 2.6 MILLION SQUARE FEET OF INDUSTRIAL SPACE LEASED IN GREATER BALTIMORE AREA IN 1ST QUARTER 2022
NEARLY 2.6 MILLION SQUARE FEET OF INDUSTRIAL SPACE LEASED IN GREATER BALTIMORE AREA IN 1ST QUARTER 2022 SAYS LEE & ASSOCIATES
Consistent year-after-year demand spurs construction activity of more than 12.2 million square feet
COLUMBIA, MD – (May 31, 2022) – Nearly 2.6 million square feet of industrial/warehouse space was leased in the greater Baltimore metropolitan region in first quarter 2022, according to a report recently released by Lee & Associates | Maryland, adding to the 15 million square feet of industrial/warehouse space leased in the region during last year. The fully-integrated commercial real estate brokerage and management firm headquartered in Columbia also published data that indicates a net absorption of approximately 930,000 square feet of space and a current vacancy rate of approximately 3.7% for the first quarter. In fourth quarter 2021, these figures were 4.4 million square feet of space leased, net absorption of 3.7 million square feet and a vacancy rate of 3.4%. Consistent with the previous quarter, approximately 12.2 million square feet of space is presently under construction locally.
“Quarterly absorption declined significantly in the past three months, and the overall vacancy rate slightly ticked up, as the result of a short-term slow down in the number of larger deals executed,” stated Tom Whelan, Principal, Lee & Associates | Maryland. “We still envision tremendous activity in the future and expect leasing to increase significantly for the balance of the year. Newly-completed buildings in Cecil, Harford and Washington counties have not been leased to date, but we expect that to change quickly.”
Nearly two million square feet of space was delivered in the past three months and asking rents have decreased from $7.46 per square foot to $7.28 per square foot. Twenty-five sales transactions were completed at a cumulative value of more than $380 million. Approximately 9.7 million square feet of industrial/warehouse space is available for lease locally.
Significant industrial sales included CBRE Investment Management’s purchase of 511 Chelsea Road, a 672,000 square foot project in Aberdeen for $94.3 million. In addition, Strata Equity Group acquired 1200 E. Patapsco Avenue in Baltimore for $96 million.
The area’s largest leases were the 737,000 square foot lease signed by United Safety Technology at 6301 New Cold Mill Road in Baltimore; The 430,000 square foot lease executed by Life Science Logistics at 1940 Reservoir Road in Baltimore County; and the 307,000 square foot leased signed by Hitachi Rail at 11903 Greencastle Pike in Hagerstown.
The largest construction projects underway in the greater Baltimore metropolitan region include a 1.8 million square foot building at Tradepoint Atlantic that will be delivered in June 2022; an 800,000 square foot building in Williamsport that will be completed in May 2022; and a 1.2 million square foot project in Hagerstown that is slated for delivery in the near future.
“There continues to be significant money chasing industrial product in the Baltimore region, because the buildings, for the most part, are investment grade assets,” Whelan added. “Unit pricing is increasing with record levels being reached.”
Lee & Associates is a commercial real estate brokerage, management and appraisal services firm. Established in 1979, Lee & Associates has grown its service platform to include offices in the United States and Canada. Lee & Associates provides superior market intelligence in office, industrial, retail, investment and appraisal to meet the specialized needs of our clients. Visit https://www.lee-associates.com/offices/office/?id=1591