Developer Plans Region’s Largest Spec Warehouse
Date Posted: September 30, 2021
Posted In: Projects,
From St. Louis Post-Dispatch: NorthPoint Development has started construction on the St. Louis region’s largest-ever speculative warehouse as demand for industrial space intensifies.
The 1 million-square-foot building, under construction in a new industrial park in Pontoon Beach called Gateway Tradeport, is the largest speculative industrial building ever to be built in the metro area.
The region has seen other similarly sized buildings, like World Wide Technology’s $115 million, 2 million-square-foot campus in Illinois — but this is the first time a building of this size has been built without a company leasing the space before construction has begun, underscoring how in-demand industrial space has been in the region.
Industrial vacancy is at a near-historic low of 4.3%, according to commercial real estate firm JLL, which is marketing the property.
“Landlords and developers are making big bets to bring more supply to market,” David Branding, managing director of JLL, said in a statement. “Next year will tell if those bets were large enough to meet demand.”