The coronavirus disease pandemic has brought new business to Atlanta's industrial real estate market, according to a new report from Colliers International.

The reason is that major online retailers are shopping for new warehouse space as their customers self-isolate at home because of COVID-19 concerns and order more goods to be delivered to their doorstep.

"The pandemic has put a premium on e-commerce activity," Scott Amoson, director of research for Colliers International in Atlanta, said in a new Atlanta industrial market real estate report. "Amazon is securing locations in the major submarkets to allow it to service its customers in the fastest way possible, expanding its last-mile logistics infrastructure at breakneck speed." During the second quarter, both Amazon and Walmart took on an additional million square feet each of warehouse space in the Atlanta market, Amoson said. Those two companies' occupancies were the largest of the quarter, accounting for almost half of net absorption, he said. He added the Atlanta industrial market is approaching an average leasing price of $5 per square foot.