The Team NEO survey of the 16-county region showed that vacancy rates for industrial space are at their lowest point in five years. Thomas Waltermire is Team NEO's CEO. His group's survey shows steady demand for warehouse and distribution space.
Thomas Waltermire: We're not growing at a rapid rate, but we are in fact growing and we are now using 11 million more square feet of industrial space than we were three years ago.
Team NEO says the region's vacancy rate is slightly higher than the national average of 7.9 percent. A trade publication, Site Selection magazine says Ohio has led the US in new and expanded corporate facilities for two years running. Joseph Martanovic of Colliers Ostendorf-Morris says smaller companies interested in counties like Geauga and Portage have helped.
Joseph Martanovic:That's where a lot of growth has occurred in the last 15 years, where there were a lot of build-to-suits and a lot of tax abatements and a lot of communities really embracing businesses with extraordinary inducements and dynamism.
Going forward, Martanovic forecasts a slight slowdown in the purchase or rental of industrial properties in the region as a result of ongoing national economic problems.
But one help to local industry has been the dollar's slide on currency markets. Team NEO's Waltermire says nearly 40 percent of the leads Team NEO is now pursuing involve international firms. Mhari Saito, 90.3.