Spec Building Is Back, Panelists Say

LONG BEACH, CA-The industrial market is leading the recovery here in Southern California versus other markets around the country, thanks to trade growth. So said Eugene Reilly, CEO of the Americas for ProLogis at NAIOP’s I.con: The Industrial Conference, held Wednesday and Thursday at the Renaissance Long Beach. “In Southern California, we are seeing an awful lot of activity in larger spaces, and a lot of demand and rent growth in that sector,” he said, “but in smaller spaces, it is still pretty weak.”

Reilly joined panelists, Bart Pucci, SVP of industrial at Grubb & Ellis Co.; Steve Batcheller, a partner at Panattoni Developement Co.; and moderator Jim Dieter, EVP of industrial operations and brokerage at Cushman & Wakefield of Illinois Inc., at the event, which drew approximately 300 attendees. What is driving demand right now in the Southern California market, according to Batcheller, is that the ports are expanding. “The ships coming over from China have been doing a thing called slow steaming, which has made the ports of L.A. and Long Beach much more competitive,” he said. “It is a global logistics trend based on the cost of shipping for China.”