LOS ANGELES-Demand for small- and mid-sized industrial space has increased, according to Bart Reinhard, Jones Lang LaSalle's newly hired managing director. Reinhard will focus on industrial advising and negotiating in the Los Angeles region. He comes to JLL from CBRE, where he worked as a SVP, advising clients on real estate strategy. GlobeSt.com sat down with Reinhard to discuss the current industrial market in the Los Angeles area.

GlobeSt.com: How does the industrial market for existing properties (leasing and purchasing/sales) compare to new construction industrial development?

Bart Reinhard: Fortunately, the Inland Empire is a relatively young market in comparison to the rest of infill Los Angeles. This means that a fair share of the Inland Empire industrial market is class-A space offering modern building features such as 30-foot clear heights, ESFR sprinklers and larger truck courts. Today, 70% of what's under construction, on a square-footage basis, is 500,000 square feet or greater. Groundbreakings, however, are also increasing for smaller facilities as small- and mid-sized distributors are getting back into the leasing market. As a result, this is increasing occupancy in smaller-size segments. Existing buildings are feeling minimal impact so far, which means leasing is generally healthy and it's business as usual. As with most technology, its material handling systems and warehouse management systems command a price premium at first because there are high barriers to entry and a select few technology vendors control the market. As this technology market gets diluted from competition and prices start to drop, smaller businesses will start to play catch up and make some capital investments in their buildings. At that point, I believe we will begin to see a little bit more of a widening between modern versus vintage industrial product in the smaller sizes.