By Joshua Burd
The unrelenting demand for industrial space has fueled new construction across the country — and New Jersey is home to what will be the largest project of the year.
At least, that’s according to a new report by COMMERCIALCafé, a commercial real estate data platform. The research service highlighted a four-building, 2.18 million-square-foot development in Phillipsburg — the first phase of what’s known as Bridge Point 78 — as the nation’s top industrial project that is underway and slated for delivery in 2019.
Its developer, Bridge Development Partners, is projected to deliver the buildings in December as part of a plan to transform a sprawling former Ingersoll-Rand manufacturing complex. At full build-out, the 380-acre complex will comprise seven building spanning 3.8 million square feet along Route 22, straddling Phillipsburg and neighboring Lopatcong.
Bridge Point 78 was one of two projects slated to come online this year that will feature more than 2 million square feet, COMMERCIALCafé found. The other, Passport Park, is a four-building project in Irving, Texas that is being developed by Trammell Crow.
COMMERCIALCafé also found that New Jersey is the fourth most attractive market for industrial development in 2019, with 23 projects totaling 10.5 million square feet. That maintains last year’s pace in the Garden State and is part of a robust construction pipeline across the U.S.
“In terms of development, 2019 is poised to bring continuity and stability, as the total square footage scheduled for delivery by year-end is set to match the total pipeline volume of 2018,” COMMERCIALCafé wrote in the report. “Last year, developers brought 270 projects totaling 105.7 million square feet of new industrial space to the U.S. market, while in 2019, 304 projects and 104.6 million square feet are expected to be delivered.”
The service noted that Chicago, the Inland Empire and Dallas-Fort Worth are still the top three destinations for industrial construction, just as they were in 2018. Investors are also betting big on multi-building industrial campuses, as the 10 largest projects scheduled for 2019 delivery all feature more than one building.
The top 10 also includes a project about a half hour west of Bridge Point 78 — the Park 100 Logistics Center, buildings A and B — in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Ridgeline Property Group is developing the project, which totals 1.46 million square feet and is slated for delivery this spring.
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