Murphy also cites inquiries from a variety of organizations that are investing in downtown locations but have storage needs that would be better accommodated outside Atlanta proper. Likewise, product suppliers to Atlanta-based organizations are among Creekside at Langford's likely tenants.

“Atlanta is booming, and that is driving industrial space demand immediately outside the city,” Murphy said. “We are seeing tremendous expansion at Georgia State University and within the government sector. Sports and entertainment is growing here, too, and new studios are popping up as the TV and movie business increases its local presence.”

Healthy leasing to date in 2016 has resulted in tightening vacancies in the Atlanta regional industrial market. “Tenant activity remains steady as the economy continues to grow,” Murphy says. “As a result, we expect that supply and demand will remain balanced here in the coming months and into 2017.”

ATLANTA—Demand for close-in warehouse and distribution product—from e-commerce retailers seeking last-mile delivery options and expanding CBD tenant bases—is transforming tier-one suburban industrial markets like Atlanta. As focus on last-mile delivery grows and urbanization attracts more corporate, entertainment and governmental entities with warehousing needs, close-in industrial vacancies are approaching zero.

Against that backdrop, the commercial real estate industry is finding creative ways to deliver much-needed new supply. One example: The redevelopment of a 55-year-old, 538,000-square-foot East Point, GA warehouse property. When completed, Solution Property Group's Creekside at Langford Distribution Corridor will represent the Atlanta CBD market's closest-in bulk distribution facility.

“The walls are up. It's starting to look like a building,” Pat Murphy of Cushman & Wakefield, who is marketing the property, tells GlobeSt.com. “Among its benefits, Creekside at Langford will offer 28-clear ceilings, which provides more storage volume than other properties in the close-in marketplace.”

Already, the project is drawing interest from a number of sectors, including national retailers looking for e-commerce warehouse space. “There is incredible residential growth right now in downtown, midtown and Buckhead, especially,” Murphy says. “Millennials and empty nesters are moving into Atlanta. As demand for next-day and same-day delivery escalates, e-retailers know that the closer they are to their customers the faster and more economical they can be.”

Murphy also cites inquiries from a variety of organizations that are investing in downtown locations but have storage needs that would be better accommodated outside Atlanta proper. Likewise, product suppliers to Atlanta-based organizations are among Creekside at Langford's likely tenants.

“Atlanta is booming, and that is driving industrial space demand immediately outside the city,” Murphy said. “We are seeing tremendous expansion at Georgia State University and within the government sector. Sports and entertainment is growing here, too, and new studios are popping up as the TV and movie business increases its local presence.”

Healthy leasing to date in 2016 has resulted in tightening vacancies in the Atlanta regional industrial market. “Tenant activity remains steady as the economy continues to grow,” Murphy says. “As a result, we expect that supply and demand will remain balanced here in the coming months and into 2017.”