In the Midwest, there was $738.3 million in industrial sales to foreign entities in the past year. This included $342.8 million in the core market of Chicago, $131.1 million in Minneapolis, $63.6 million in Detroit, $56.4 million in Cincinnati, $42.3 million in St. Louis, and $18.3 million in Columbus.

“With the strength of the US supply chain and continued growth in e-commerce, the industrial asset class should continue to attract investors looking for stable, long-term returns for the near future,” Foster adds. “But I also think there will continue to be pressure to invest in different locations.”

Avison Young analyzed research and sales data provided by Real Capital Analytics.

Among the other findings for this year's first quarter:

• Dallas, TX was the top market for foreign investment, with eight industrial properties purchased for a total of $153.6 million.
• Chicago recorded six industrial property sales totaling $61.9 million.
• In the Midwest, rental rates jumped in many markets since the first quarter of 2016 – up 15.6% in Columbus (to $3.63); 4.4% in Indianapolis (to $3.50), and 14.2% in Nashville (to $4.98). In Chicago, rates fell 2.3% (to $4.56).
• Among the key sales was Canadian investment firm Brookfield AM's purchase of 37 industrial properties from TA Realty of Boston for $680 million. This sale included properties in Dallas, the Inland Empire, the Chicago market, and others.

Purchases like Brookfield AM's were relatively common a few years ago, most notably in 2015 when GLP and its partner GIC Pte. Ltd. closed an $8.1-billion acquisition of the Blackstone Group's IndCor Properties platform.

“There are fewer portfolios and platforms to buy,” says Foster. Still, he expects we will soon see more of these major acquisitions.

CHICAGO—Foreign investment in the flourishing US industrial market continues to grow. Foreign buyers spent $1.3 billion on warehouse, corporate distribution, and related spaces in the first quarter of 2017, a big boost over last year's first quarter, when their industrial purchases totaled $443.6 million, according to a new report from Avison Young.

Altogether, foreign investors spent $4.3 billion on industrial buildings in the past year, through the first quarter. But the intense competition for these highly-desired properties has led many to change how they go about it.

“We're seeing foreign investors get more interested in different types of industrial buildings,” Erik Foster, the Chicago-based leader of Avison Young's national industrial capital markets group, tells GlobeSt.com. Instead of safe investments in class A properties, many have started picking up value-add buildings that entail a little more risk. “It's not just for the top five industrial markets anymore.”

Canadian investors continue to lead the way, purchasing $831.1 million, followed by Chinese buyers, with their volume rising by more than 540%—from $5.2 million in the first-quarter of 2016 to $284.9 million in the first-quarter of 2017.

In the Midwest, there was $738.3 million in industrial sales to foreign entities in the past year. This included $342.8 million in the core market of Chicago, $131.1 million in Minneapolis, $63.6 million in Detroit, $56.4 million in Cincinnati, $42.3 million in St. Louis, and $18.3 million in Columbus.

“With the strength of the US supply chain and continued growth in e-commerce, the industrial asset class should continue to attract investors looking for stable, long-term returns for the near future,” Foster adds. “But I also think there will continue to be pressure to invest in different locations.”

Avison Young analyzed research and sales data provided by Real Capital Analytics.

Among the other findings for this year's first quarter:

• Dallas, TX was the top market for foreign investment, with eight industrial properties purchased for a total of $153.6 million.
• Chicago recorded six industrial property sales totaling $61.9 million.
• In the Midwest, rental rates jumped in many markets since the first quarter of 2016 – up 15.6% in Columbus (to $3.63); 4.4% in Indianapolis (to $3.50), and 14.2% in Nashville (to $4.98). In Chicago, rates fell 2.3% (to $4.56).
• Among the key sales was Canadian investment firm Brookfield AM's purchase of 37 industrial properties from TA Realty of Boston for $680 million. This sale included properties in Dallas, the Inland Empire, the Chicago market, and others.

Purchases like Brookfield AM's were relatively common a few years ago, most notably in 2015 when GLP and its partner GIC Pte. Ltd. closed an $8.1-billion acquisition of the Blackstone Group's IndCor Properties platform.

“There are fewer portfolios and platforms to buy,” says Foster. Still, he expects we will soon see more of these major acquisitions.