CRE Snapshot: A Look At The DFW Airport Industrial Market
The Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport industrial market has become a favored location for industrial logistics companies seeking global and cost-effective cargo facilities, according to a submarket snapshot provided to Bisnow by CBRE.
The airport controls 17,000 acres with 6,000 of that earmarked for commercial development. Of that identified for commercial projects, about 2,400 acres have been developed, leaving about 3,600 acres still available. The airport has 5.6M SF of active projects in the works.
As of the end of the second quarter of 2018, the vacancy rate in DFW Airport was just 4.7%, the fourth-lowest of the nine industrial submarkets in Dallas/Fort Worth. The year-to-date absorption for the submarket was 1.4M SF as of midyear.
“DFW Airport is usually the No. 1 or No. 2 reason for corporations moving to the region,” DFW Airport Vice President of Community Development John Terrell said recently at the Bisnow 121 Corridor conference.
CBRE, in a recent report on supply chain labor, identified the Dallas-Fort Worth region as one of the few large markets with a balance of high labor supply and affordability. The DFW region, with its 195,400 transportation and warehouse jobs, has the third-highest industrial and logistics labor force in the nation, behind only LA/Orange County and Chicago.
The airport has been a favored submarket among institutional investors, and from an occupier’s perspective, its central location and access to national and international markets make it a standout location for industrial development.
“DFW Airport’s geographic location affords the opportunity to become the main hub connecting Asia and Latin America,” CBRE Director of Research and Analysis Robert Kramp said. “Nine APAC cargo airlines serve DFW Airport and offer direct connections to seven major APAC cargo hubs: Tokyo, Seoul, Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Taipei and Sydney.”
Cargo operators at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport moved 892,794 tons of cargo in 2017 through the airport, which offers direct connections to 21 major international cargo markets.
Several foreign trade zones and triple freeport qualifying properties on airport property make it an attractive location for industrial occupiers, he said.
