BIG PICTURE: New Distribution Centers Aim for Key Highway Sites

ORLANDO-Higher fuel prices in some sectors and the need to deliver merchandise to consumers ahead of the competition is driving a new wave of facilities development that is aiming exclusively for key highway-connection sites, brokers, developers and owners tell GlobeSt.com.

High-tech warehouses at or near a market’s best surface transportation routes have always been in demand, but now more so than ever as the national energy crunch is increasing shipping expenses in some areas, industry sources say.

“As companies continue their trend of requiring locations as close to major arteries as possible, projects at those locations are going to dominate over projects that are located in the periphery without immediate access to major arteries, particularly for large statewide or regional distribution companies,” David Murphy, an industrial specialist in the Orlando office of CB Richard Ellis Inc., tells GlobeSt.com.