Any hope, faint as it might have been, that industrial supply would start to catch up with demand this year should be already dashed by now. The National Association of Realtors reported data through March 4, finding that industrial supply continues to lag demand. Namely, as of the beginning of this month, the vacancy rate fell to 4.1% from 6.8% at the close of Q4 2021. Specialized space, manufacturing and all other properties that are neither logistics nor flex space (such as telecom and data housing centers) saw availability rates decline to a low of 4.5%. Logistic space and flex space fell to 7.3% and 8.4%, respectively.

The situation has become untenable for occupiers, says Rob Gemerchak, director, Stan Johnson Company. 

"Distribution and warehouse facilities play such an important role for tenants in the distribution of goods and products to stores as well as directly to customers," he tells GlobeSt.com. "In today's market, retailers cannot be successful, nor can they expect to grow market share and win customer loyalty, if they don't have a streamlined logistics process—and their real estate plays a critical role.