GlobeSt.com is partnering with SIOR for its Fall World Conference Oct. 24-26 in Chicago, IL. SIOR LIVE will provide coverage of the event, featuring pre-event articles, live video interviews on site and post-conference analysis. To help kick off the conference, GlobeSt.com spoke with IDI's Timothy J. Gunter on what's ahead for industrial assets in 2014.

CHICAGO—In the past few years, many large investors have found industrial property appealing due to its lower risk. And according to Timothy J. Gunter, the president and CEO for Atlanta-based Industrial Developments International, this appeal will probably widen in 2014 to encompass more markets as the economic recovery continues and confidence grows.

“We're able to start and stop industrial development really quickly,” he says, certainly much quicker than the construction of more capital-intensive products such as office towers or multifamily developments, and that flexibility originally brought in many investors made leery by lingering economic uncertainty. And the recent construction of giant distribution centers by well-respected corporations such as Amazon and Walmart “has probably raised the profile of industrials even more,” Gunter adds.