Written by: Stephanie Morris
Stephanie specializes in research capabilities, providing support for the Colliers Columbus Office, Industrial, and Retail groups. She is responsible for executing data reports, maintaining a commercial property database, reporting quarterly trends, performing data analysis, and utilizing statistical information to predict future behavior in the market. Continue reading for insights into industrial vacancy rates by building size.
The Columbus industrial vacancy rate saw a significant rise in Q4 2024, increasing by 2.5% year-over-year. Big Lots was a key factor in this rise, which vacated 3.8 million square feet of space. This contributed to a 5.3% year-over-year increase in the vacancy rate for larger buildings over 600K square feet. Vacancy rates grew across all building sizes, but the smallest increase of just 0.6% was seen in properties ranging from 100K to 200K square feet. Tenant demand remains strong in the 100K-200K square foot range, contributing to the stable vacancy rate. Additionally, buildings between 400K and 600K square feet faced higher vacancy rates due to an uptick in speculative supply.
The recent vacancy spike, driven by Big Lots’ large-block move-outs and an influx of speculative deliveries, has temporarily inflated rates. However, with just 334K square feet of speculative development under construction in Q4, the slowdown in new supply should help absorb existing vacancies. If tenant demand holds steady, mid-sized buildings could see improved occupancy. Vacancy rates are expected to flatten in 2025 as speculative construction slows significantly, fostering a more balanced supply-demand dynamic. So far this year, only one speculative project has broken ground.
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