Big box demand has helped to prop up industrial activity in the Inland Empire during the pandemic. A new report from JLL shows positive net absorption, rising asking rents and a 4.1% vacancy rate in the second quarter, even as the pandemic roared on. Big box activity was largely the force behind the market activity.

"The strong Inland Empire industrial performance makes perfect sense when you think about it because that is where all the essential goods are stored," Mike McCrary, managing director at JLL, tells GlobeSt.com. "People need toilet paper, toothpaste and unsexy daily needs items. Additionally, with this crisis, more generations are being forced and accustom to using ecommerce, which is also factoring into the growth. Since mid-March the percent of the population ordering goods online has gone from about 15 percent to around 26 percent, which is expected to continue to grow. Additionally, according to Forbes, online orders as a whole are up about around 146 percent year-to-date through May in the U.S. and Canada."

The Inland Empire is the premier market in the country for big box warehouse storage, so it isn't surprising that it continued to see strong demand and activity through the economic dislocation. "The Inland Empire is where most manufacturers and retailers store these goods before it hits the stores or before it gets delivered via ecommerce," says McCrary. "The pandemic is also proving that the 'Just in Time' model has deficiencies. To combat that, we expect corporate America manufacturers and retailers to start having "safety stock" in their warehouses in the future to prevent running out of product.  This trend will create more demand for large industrial space in the Inland Empire."