In April, the Mid-South’s industrial real estate market was exhibiting clear symptoms from coronavirus.
Almost all the speculative developers had paused their projects, and companies were taking a wait-and-see approach before signing leases.
“The second quarter, I just have to believe, [absorption] will be hit pretty good,” CBRE Inc. broker Jim Mercer told the MBJ on April 9.
That didn’t turn out to be the case. In the second quarter, the market absorbed about 3 million square feet, the vacancy rate dropped by 70 basis points, and — in June — developers started un-pausing spec projects.
“When the [pandemic] started off, there was definitely a bit of a lull. … [But, going] by the second quarter numbers, you never would have known there’s a pandemic going on,” Cushman & Wakefield | Commercial Advisors broker Kemp Conrad said.
Source: Memphis Business Journal