In 2020, the US recorded a record number of big-box industrial transactions, and the West Coast was a central region of the activity, according to new research from CBRE. The Inland Empire and Phoenix both made the list as top markets for major industrial deals, defined as deals over 1 million square feet in size.

While these two markets seem very different, the growth drivers were the same. In 2020, ecommerce and online shopping supported rapid growth in the market. "Large-box industrial leasing activity in Phoenix was greatly driven by the same factors that kept families functioning through the COVID-19 downturn; e-commerce and food.  Last year, Greater Phoenix transacted seven  deals over 500,000 square feet, which accounted for more square footage for this property size than the previous two years combined," Jackie Orcutt, SVP in CBRE's industrial and logistics group in Phoenix, tells GlobeSt.com. "All of these large transactions were either tied to e-commerce or food industries."

In the Inland Empire, there were similar drivers of investment volume in 2020. "COVID has accelerated large industrial space needs in Southern California beyond already previous record levels, driven by e-commerce, an increase in inventory levels of goods and products, and residential improvement projects," Dan De La Paz, EVP at CBRE, tells GlobeSt.com. "Due to this ever-rising demand, the Inland Empire has started to see a lack of inventory. This is creating an infill dynamic unseen for this region before. That in turn has resulted in a shift with occupiers to focus on securing as much space as possible as it has become harder to find."