Texas Experiences Industrial Market Surge
By Clayton Strolle, PE, LEED AP, Director, Commercial Market
The industrial market in the state of Texas is booming. This comes as no surprise, given the fact that the state has become an attractive destination for corporate relocations over the last ten years. With the recent growth in population comes an increased need for goods and significant industrial expansion in multiple cities, the most notable being the Dallas-Fort Worth, San Antonio, and Austin areas.
Dallas-Fort Worth
With connections to multiple interstates and railways for transporting goods, Dallas-Fort Worth has historically served as an industrial market. As the region continues to grow, DFW has become the epicenter for corporate relocations since the economy began to resurge in 2012 and 2013.
A new push for online shopping has resulted in the decline of brick-and-mortar retail and an increased need for industrial space to store consumer goods.
San Antonio
Although not at the level of Dallas-Fort Worth, San Antonio is experiencing its own steady growth of industrial products. San Antonio’s expansion is primarily due to international trade. The city has become a popular location to house and ship goods from Mexico to other areas of the country.
San Antonio is also known as a major auto manufacturer, with Toyota building their Tundra vehicle model in the southern part of the city. The influx of Toyota’s suppliers has helped the region keep industrial products moving forward.
Austin
Austin is an up-and-coming city in the industrial space. The area has exploded with the addition of major auto manufacturers and increased corporate relocations. News of the proposed Department of Defense Futures Command Center relocating to the area reinforces its appeal to many industries.
Historically, Austin has been known as a last-mile town, with the final shipment of products to consumers sprouting from distribution centers located in the city. An increased population has resulted in an imbalance in supply and demand. Currently, the permitting process in the Austin market takes 12-18 months. Consequently, product production is behind and looks to remain that way for the foreseeable future.
The region also has a 6% vacancy rate. There are vast amounts of undeveloped land having few utilities. If permitting timelines and utilities can be settled, the city’s expansion will continue.
More people and more businesses mean an increased need for storage space, specifically for e-commerce supply centers. Who would have thought that Amazon and a global pandemic would come together and lead to the largest expansion the industrial market has seen in some time? Predictions indicate that this positive outlook will continue for the industrial market in Texas. Additional forecasting indicates vacancy rates will remain low.
With a large team dedicated to industrial development, we remain one of the leading industrial engineering firms in the Texas market. Our engineers continuously strive to improve upon current industrial design standards to ensure the best solutions for our clients, which also means keeping up with the current conditions of the market. Reach out to learn more about how we support the growing industrial market in Texas.
