In fact, build-to-suits are becoming a national trend, says David Murphy, an industrial broker in the Orlando office of C.B. Richard Ellis Inc. "Our speculative market has decreased dramatically under adverse market conditions," Murphy tells GlobeSt.com, "leaving room for developers to provide build-to suit options to tenants

Additionally, large industrial tenants have begun a consolidation trend, particularly in the logistics sector. "These tenants are opting for fewer locations but larger boxes, many times in the 500,00-sf-or-larger-category," Murphy says. "Regardless of market, there are typically few speculative projects available of this size at any given time, so they end up as build-to-suit candidates."

In California, Mike Wells, Northwest regional manager of Panattoni Development Co., Sacramento, CA, notes a similar trend. "We are seeing the development of larger distribution centers, ranging in size from 500,000 sf to two million sf," Wells tells GlobeSt.com West Coast bureau chief Brian Miller. "These facilities are not commonly built on spec because they do not meet the test of being reusable by multiple tenants, in part because of the depth of the bays."