Healthy Demand for Large Format Industrial in Brisbane

Strong demand in Brisbane’s A-grade industrial sector has seen vacancy rates drop by 3 per cent over the quarter, according to latest research.

The 3 per cent drop over the three months to October reflects a 2.8 per cent decrease over the past year as larger tenants compete for limited space, according to Knight Frank’s Brisbane Industrial Vacancy report.

Knight Frank’s Mark Clifford said tenants with larger requirements were very active, with the improvement in A-grade vacancy for the quarter largely due to speculative space absorption.

The company recently negotiated more than 48,900sq m of leases across six assets in a six-week span.

“These deals have been for existing A-grade facilities, above 5000sq m in size, with the tenants being large scale businesses either expanding or looking for efficiencies in their warehousing and distribution strategy by occupying newer well-designed facilities,” he said.

The report found the improvement in vacancy in the A-grade market dropped by 18 per cent to 227,161sq m, in contrast to available secondary accommodation which increased by 18 per cent to 238,921sq m.

Due to limited existing or speculative stock, Knight Frank Partner Chris Wright said there would be a greater focus on design and construct options.

“We don’t expect tenant demand to slow down, with all the fundamentals in the market being positive including the Queensland economy and population growth ticking along, upcoming infrastructure projects and reasonable business confidence.

“But it’s going to be hard for tenants to find existing buildings of 5000sq m plus.

“This has to translate into more activity in the design and construct sector at key industrial land estates. We are going to start seeing some spec activity as well given the healthy demand for 5000sq m plus.”

Related: Futuristic Warehouses, E-Commerce Drives Industrial Market