CHICAGO—The US industrial sector has entered a golden age, but its strengths should not be considered in isolation from other property types, especially when it concerns its ability to attract new investment. Industrial properties have steadily become more popular with investors, and that growing appeal is occurring as some clouds have appeared over other real estate investment options.

“It's obvious that the industrial sector has a lot of positive momentum,” Erik Foster, a Chicago-based principal of Avison Young's capital markets group, tells GlobeSt.com. But the factors that have driven that success, especially the rise of e-commerce and subsequent demand for new distribution facilities, has helped undermine the brick-and-mortar retail sector. And investors are now understandably reluctant to put their money into many retail spaces.

Furthermore, Foster adds, the office sector has changed in fundamental ways that may limit investment options. For one thing, the hot office trend is to ditch individual offices, design more cooperative spaces, and shrink the square footage dedicated to each employee. “Everyone is doing more with less.”