CBRE report says Greenville has healthy vacancy rate

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According to a CBRE analysis, Greenville claimed the fourth lowest vacancy rate for new industrial developments in the nation last year.

Of the 4 million square feet of new industrial projects built last year, 18.7% remained vacant at the time of the study, according to a news release from the real estate and investment firm. The national vacancy rate was 39% percent for more than 289 million square feet of new industrial development.

A 50% vacancy rate marks the maximum cut-off for a healthy new industrial property market, according to the release.

Greenville followed Baltimore at a 13% vacancy rate, Miami at a 12.4% vacancy rate and Kansas City, Mo., at a 7.3% vacancy rate for markets with 4 million square feet or more of new development.

“While speculative development is at an all-time high in the Greenville-Spartanburg market, the demand continues to meet and exceed the supply,” Trey Pennington, senior vice president of Greenville’s CBRE office, said in the news release. “The Greenville-Spartanburg industrial market has recorded positive absorption for 34 of the last 35 quarters, averaging 1.4 million square feet per quarter, with expectations for this trend to continue through 2020.  This will continue to put downward pressure on the vacancy rates in a market that we believe is still underserved, from a long-term perspective.  The market fundamentals look positive for the foreseeable future in Upstate South Carolina.”