US port real estate continues to outperform industrial market

“Even with a myriad of global economic challenges, seaport industrial real estate has continued to retain its premium value over inland industrial locations,” said John Carver, head of Jones Lang LaSalle’s PAGI team. “Rising leasing volumes and demand for warehouse space at these gateway logistics hubs is driving this continued ‘coast inward’ recovery. In the last year, millions of square feet of space have been taken in and around our busiest ports, bringing vacancy rates down.”

Last year’s PAGI report unveiled Jones Lang LaSalle’s first annual propriety Port Index which rates the top 12 US port markets on their cargo performance, investment plans and teu volumes and on their real estate fundamentals. This year, the port with the highest score is the Port of Los Angeles at 95.1, maintaining its reign from last year but improving its annual score by 3.7 points. Also at the top of the list again was Long Beach with a close 92.8 rating.

LA continues to top the charts owing to its high container volumes, market share of trans-pacific cargo traffic, its stable real estate market and the US$1bn earmarked to capital improvements in the next five years. Other ports that registered score improvements were Houston, Baltimore, Virginia, Charleston, Miami and Jacksonville.