Industrial is going to continue to evolve—and grow—over the next two years as the market accommodates demand from ecommerce and logistics companies. In 2020, the industrial market will have larger warehouse spaces, more ecommerce consolidation and an increased number of manufacturers moving to the Inland Empire to mitigate increasing real estate costs in Los Angeles, according to Rene Ramos, an industrial expert at Coldwell Banker Commercial. We sat down with Ramos for an exclusive interview to talk about the industrial market today and the trends that will dominate over the next two years.

GlobeSt.com: What trends do you expect to see in industrial over the next two years?

Rene Ramos: The continuing trend has been toward larger warehouses. Warehouses today are being built 120% larger than they were a decade ago. That is because many companies want to have a large fulfillment center near dense metropolitan areas. In the Inland Empire, for example, Amazon has six or seven buildings totaling 20 million square feet. That trend is going to continue, and we are going to see a lot of consolidation. This is because industrial is now a quasi-retail center. Today, a consumer's store is their laptop. They can order everything online, and in a day it is at their house. A lot of companies need warehouses spaces to service those customers, and they want to be strategically located to reach them. As a result, warehouses are going to get taller. In 2020, I believe the square footage we lost in retail is going to be gained in industrial.