< Previous76 SEPTEMBER 2025 SITE SELECTION projected to experience rental growth through 2027, driven by robust occupier demand and increasing supply in key regions. Adapting to market conditions: Tenant-friendly conditions dominate in many markets, but a shift toward neutral and landlord-favorable conditions is expected over the next three years, particularly in North America and EMEA. Long-term vision amid uncertainty: Businesses are balancing short-term challenges like economic slowdowns and rising tariffs with long-term strategies to optimize location, supply chain configurations and real estate decisions for sustainable growth. Cost pressures shaping real estate decisions: Rising costs for construction materials, energy and labor are influencing locational and operational decisions, with markets in APAC, LATAM and EMEA offering cost advantages in labor and energy expenses. Against this backdrop, potential stakeholder strategies for occupiers include: • Leverage uncertainty to diversify and strengthen supply chains, including reassessing location and real estate needs. • Act on “mission critical” sites now, as tenant-friendly conditions are expected to shift soon. Secure current assets or plan for new facilities, particularly in markets where vacancy rates may tighten. • Prepare for rising real estate SITE SELECTION SEPTEMBER 2025 77 costs in the near term, including higher rents and increased fit-out and construction expenses due to fluctuating material costs. 3 Questions for Cushman & Wakefield The Waypoint report forecasts tenant-favorable markets dropping from 52% today to 28% by 2028 (72% to 23% in the Americas). Name a few locations that are tenant-favorable today and will be in 2028. Are there any locations that you see becoming tenant-favorable by 2028 that may not be today? Jason Price, Senior Director, Americas Head of Logistics & Industrial Research : By 2028, most, if not all industrial markets across the Americas are expected to be in growth mode as we should be in a new industrial expansion cycle. Some markets which are tenant favorable today which should remain tenant favorable would be possibly Austin and Las Vegas, as they have seen robust speculative supply totals in recent years, putting vacancy rates in double digits. Although by 2027 these markets should start to see some stabilization, vacancy will still be elevated with numerous space options for occupiers. We don’t see markets becoming tenant favorable in 2028 that aren’t today. The charts here show top states and metros by corporate end-user major logistics facility investment projects over the past five years as tracked by Site Selection’s Conway Projects Database. What stands out to you? Jason Price: Texas being high on this list is of no surprise — due to the lack of state income tax, it has a pretty favorable environment in terms of regulations vs. other states and has a large/diverse employment base with healthy population growth across TOP U.S. STATES BY LOGISTICS PROJECTS 2020-2024 STATE PROJECTS Texas 2,311 Illinois 1,321 California 712 Ohio 679 Georgia 579 Florida 489 Pennsylvania 382 North Carolina 354 Virginia 334 South Carolina 280 Source: Conway Projects Database, Conway Data Inc./Site Selection78 SEPTEMBER 2025 SITE SELECTION its major metros. The state also has a plethora of developable land for projects. Investment into the Chicago area specifically is due to its strategic location in the Midwest and strong transportation network. It’s another area with a highly skilled workforce. It boasts one of the largest populations nationwide as well and access to other Midwest hubs, and has one of the largest freight transportation networks in the U.S. The manufacturing and logistics opportunity in India continues to appear great. But the stereotype of lagging or non-existent Indian transport infrastructure is hard to shake. Where in India have you observed the most dramatic improvements? Ahishek Bhutani, Managing Director, Logistics & Industrial Services - India: In recent years, India has improved its rank significantly in the Logistics Performance Index of 2023 at 38 out of 139 countries that the World Bank evaluates. Its previous rank was 44 in 2018. However, India still has some issues with regard to cost of transportation being relatively high and lack of enough specialized goods storage facilities, i.e. Grade-A warehouses. Having said that, the government is investing heavily in creating the necessary infrastructure for multi-modal freight corridors, enabling higher use of railways and integrating waterways, wherever possible. Such initiatives have led to unfolding of industrial/logistics opportunities in several satellite towns and tier-II cities such as Sanand & Bavla (in Ahmedabad); peripheries of Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore & Chennai; Greater Noida, Dahej (Gujarat), Indore, amongst a few others. We have observed a lot of land deals in these locations that would cater to industrial developments in the near future. TOP U.S. METROS BY LOGISTICS PROJECTS 2020-2024 METRO PROJECTS Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN 1,224 Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX 898 Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX 737 Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA 290 New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ 277 Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA 275 Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX 186 Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ 176 Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN 173 Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL 172 Source: Conway Projects Database80 SEPTEMBER 2025 SITE SELECTION TRANSIT-ORIENTED DEVELOPMENT T ransit projects can inform corporate real estate strategy as much as they can transform a community of riders. In , global design and architecture fi rm Gensler announced the Gensler Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) Opportunity Index, a tool that evaluates the development potential of parcels of land located near transit stations and facilities. e index has been applied to projects from the Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT) and the transit systems managed by the San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG), with diff erent criteria weighed depending on how the agency prioritizes quality of life, housing stock, corporate development friendliness and ease of connection to broader regional transportation and land use planning eff orts. I spoke about the index with Jaymes Dunsmore, senior associate and mobility & transportation lead at Gensler, and also David Zaidain, chief of transit- oriented development at MDOT, about what makes TOD projects successful for the community and businesses surrounding those projects. Assessing Potential for Transit Projects e Gensler Opportunity TOD Index consists of fi ve components — transit connectivity & service, walkability, bikeability, development feasibility and community health & wellbeing. “We have worked with a number of public sector clients,” Dunsmore says. “Each agency is a little bit diff erent in what their priorities are. For MDOT, they were really looking at wanting to fi nd things that were feasible. Development feasibility was one of their top criteria.” e index, which has been in development for the better part of a decade and formalized for use in the past two years, also assesses connectivity and by KELLY BARRAZA kelly.barraza@siteselection.com A new tool facilitates TOD planning, zoning and decision-making. Cranes, Trains and Fewer Automobiles SITE SELECTION SEPTEMBER 2025 81 service by looking at the number of rail and bus lines serving a location and the frequency of service. A location with more frequent service is likely going to support a higher level of development than a station with a half-hour service frequency on a commuter line. “For development feasibility, we’re looking at things like parcel size,” Dunsmore says. “So, the ide- al parcel size varies, but somewhere around two acres is great. Any size smaller than that, you can still do development, but you just have more constraints. We look at the existing developments and compare that to the zoned capacity. So, a site that has been fully built out doesn’t have a lot of opportunity for redevelopment compared to a site that’s either vacant or just a parking lot or one retail building in a large parking lot. You might only be using 25% of the capacity or less.” Dunsmore says the tool is also used to assess quality of experience for transit users. For example, what amenities are at the transit station? Are there ticketing and shade structures? Restrooms or indoor facilities? For walkability, walking distance from neighboring parcels to the station site is examined in addition to the presence of sidewalks, pedestrian lighting and shade along routes where direct constant sun might be less than ideal (i.e., southern California). Similarly, biking distance and quality of experience are also key factors considered for bikeability, Dunsmore notes. The index considers bicycle infrastructure such as dedicated bike lanes that make a route more pleasant and likely to be used by cyclists. Along those lines, Dunsmore notes that equity and quality of life were high priorities when working with SANDAG. “We looked at ways to incorporate that into the index — things like community health and well- being,” Dunsmore says. “For community health and well-being, we’re looking at things like open space, amenities — things like schools, parks, health clinics. Are there things in the community surrounding the station that support people living there? And if not, that doesn’t mean you can’t have development, but it helps you to indicate [that] these are things we might want to add to this community to help facilitate development. “One of the challenges is that land use is often planned at a local level,” Dunsmore explains. “So there can be a mismatch where you have a state agency like MDOT that’s doing the rail commuter rail corridor or a regional agency like SANDAG that’s planning transit service. But then it’s the local cities or counties sometimes that are in charge of what is zoned and what development can get built at that station. So, you can have a mismatch where the agency is like, ‘OK, we’re going to put a station here, but it’s currently zoned for industrial uses and it’s not very transportive.’ So that’s one thing that these types of planning projects can help identify is [to] kind of bridge that gap between these agencies. It’s really important because having the right development around transit stations is really critical to the success of that transit.” The Gensler TOD Opportunity Index can be used as a diagnostic tool to help determine what changes in zoning can be made to allow for a higher level of density or mobility improvements like adding pedestrian bridges to connect a previously inaccessible area. Essentially, it facilitates the process by which developers and agencies can understand what the planned capacity of a station could potentially be. “When you think about a built TOD project and whether or not it’s successful, it’s definitely ridership,” Dunsmore says. “But I think it’s about creating a high-quality place where you would want to live. That is the end goal here — places that are nice communities to live in — where you have lots of amenities that you can walk to or bike to easily. A grocery store, school, park — all of those things.” Building a Transit-Oriented Community I spoke with David Zaidain, chief of transit- oriented development at the Maryland Department of Transportation, about the aspects of TOD that MDOT considers when planning and building projects. “We want to have full multimodal connectivity to our TOD sites,” Zaidain says. “That’s the whole crux of TOD being successful — not only can people within the new development access the transit, but people around the new development need to be able to access the transit. So we prioritize multimodal connectivity — bike, pedestrian, accessibility throughout all of our TOD projects. We coordinate not only with the development teams that we work with, but also with local and state agencies to make sure that those aspects are prioritized.” Zaidain noted that return on investment in TOD is also important, as are housing options for commuters and residents. “We want to look at economic development, so many of our projects are development of public land for TOD,” says Zaidain. “That’s kind of a common tool that most transit and transportation agencies Notable TOD projects in Maryland include a recent mixed-use build-out in New Carrolton on the Purple Line, a light rail addition for the Maryland Department of Transportation that will connect Washington Metro lines, Amtrak and the MARC commuter rail servicing Washington-Baltimore. Rendering courtesy of MDOT82 SEPTEMBER 2025 SITE SELECTION use to develop TOD. We are wanting to make sure that the development is generating revenue for the local jurisdiction and the state so that we can fund services. “We do see housing as a priority, but that doesn’t limit us from looking at business development,” he says. “How do we attract good anchors? Because that can be great TOD generation as well. So, we work with the Department of Commerce in doing that. We also think it’s important that we consider institutional locational decisions. There are some great universities within our state — University of Maryland, Johns Hopkins. And we do reach out to them and work with them as they may look to expand. We want them to expand into transit- accessible sites.” Notable TOD projects in Maryland include a recent mixed-use build-out in New Carrolton on the Purple Line, a light rail addition for MDOT that will connect Washington Metro lines, Amtrak and the MARC commuter rail servicing Washington-Baltimore. The Purple Line is expected to be complete in 2027. The Owings Mills station in Baltimore County, located at the terminus of the Baltimore Metro transit system, has been undergoing development for the last 15 years. The Metro Centre at Owings Mills is a $220 million TOD project that already includes retail, housing, office space and a conference center and hotel. The area also has a public library and community college, the CCBC Owings Mills Extension Center — all excellent amenities for any company or resident looking for transportation options that will take them anywhere in the state and outward into the greater surrounding region. MDOT also works closely with several entities to ensure that TOD can be integrated with broader regional transportation and land-use planning. As a state agency, MDOT does not have control over local land use and has to coordinate closely with local jurisdictions to make sure they are incorporating TOD into their comprehensive plans and ensuring they are considering TOD opportunities when zoning changes happen, Zaidain explains. “It’s really a partnership between the state, particularly MDOT, and our partner agencies like DHCD [Department of Housing and Community Development], partnering with our local jurisdictions and looking at opportunities and making sure that we understand where we should be planning and zoning for TOD within those communities,” he says. The connection between transit development and economic success for businesses is well established. Maryland Governor Wes Moore has announced several transit-focused developments, including a new community-centered project at Bowie State on the MARC line. The project, located on 4.6 acres west of the Bowie State Marc station, will redevelop both state-owned and private land and has the potential to support 670 construction jobs, create more than 400 housing units and generate $108 million in state and tax revenue, according to an August 2025 press release from the governor’s office. “The [2024 Maryland State Plan] ties TOD to the greater economic success of the state,” Zaidain says about the state’s approach for upcoming transit projects. “We have a lot of opportunity to develop land for transit and development that not only increases ridership, but increases economic development, and then increases the overall economic health of the state.” Gensler’s Jaymes Dunsmore says equity and quality of life were high priorities when working with the San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG) on projects such as the San Ysidro Mobility Hub. Rendering courtesy of Gensler and SANDAG84 SEPTEMBER 2025 SITE SELECTION A nyone who’s ever sat for hours in rush- hour traffic on Interstate 95 knows where the hot spots are and how to avoid them. What you may not know, however, is how closely those traffic delays mirror the wheels of commerce; and on the East Coast of the U.S., there are no more bustling metro areas than those found in Boston, Jacksonville, Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach. An analysis of the Conway Projects Database bears this out. Suffolk County, Massachusetts, leads all counties along I-95 in total corporate facility projects gained since the beginning of 2024. Over an 18-month timeframe, this Boston area county tallied 51 projects that meet the criteria to be included in the official project database of Conway Data Inc. and Site Selection magazine. The next three top-performing I-95 counties are in Florida: Duval (Jacksonville) is No. 2 with 39 projects, followed by Broward (Fort Lauderdale) and Palm Beach (West Palm Beach) with 37 each. Middlesex County, New Jersey, just south of New York City on I-95, is No. 5 with 36 projects. The rest of the top 10 counties, in order, are Fairfax in Virginia and Norfolk in Massachusetts (tied for No. 6 with 29 projects apiece); Fairfield and New Haven in Connecticut; and Chatham in Georgia (Savannah). A total of 658 corporate facility deals occurred along the entire length of the corridor between January 2024 and July 2025. How I-95 Became a Magnet for Mobility Innovation by RON STARNER ron.starner@siteselection.com I-95 CORRIDOR Germany-based Holon will become the first automotive OEM in Florida when it begins producing the all-electric, fully autonomous Holon shuttle. The firm picked Jacksonville, Florida, for the project. Photo courtesy of HolonN ortheastern South Carolina is situated at the junction of I-95, serving the East Coast, and I-20, extending to Western Texas. Major markets such as New York City, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Nashville, Jacksonville, and Miami are all within a 10-hour drive from Northeastern South Carolina. Further equipped with 600 miles of state and federal highways, the region offers quick and low-cost access to domestic markets and world-class international centers of commerce. Northeastern South Carolina is also home to the South Carolina Ports Authority’s Inland Port Dillon, an intermodal container facility directly connected to the deepwater Port of Charleston via a CSX owned and operated rail line, which grants the region access to international markets. Extensive training resources underpin a strong regional workforce Employers in Northeastern South Carolina have access to a well-trained and sizeable labor pool of nearly one million within a 60-mile radius of the region’s geographic center. Supported by some of the best workforce training resources in the country, the region is home to three 4-year universities, four technical colleges, an extensive public and private school system, and the South Carolina Governor’s School of Science and Mathematics, one of the nation’s top 24 elite public high schools. In addition, workforce training programs are available through ReadySC and the Southeastern Institute of Manufacturing and Technology (SIMT). Expansion process simplified Counties in the region stay proactive managing their portfolios as they continue building speculative buildings, performing due diligence, and further developing industrial sites. To date, the region has over 60 industrial sites with the majority available for less than $30,000 per acre. South Carolina also has stable and competitive property tax and state corporate income tax rates, comprehensive incentives programs, and a cooperative regulatory environment that allows companies to focus on running their operations efficiently. Many of the state’s regulatory agencies have a liaison dedicated to making sure that companies receive high-level help in completing the permitting process. Proven success Recent expansions in the region include Arclin, a materials science company, Andrews Fabricators of Kingstree, Inc., a steel fabrication company, SoPakCo, a national leader in food processing and packaging, Bennettsville Printing, a fabric printer, and Universal Industrial Gases, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Nucor Corporation specializing in the design, construction, and operation of industrial gas production and supply systems. These companies’ combined investments of over $200 million will support over 90 new jobs across Northeastern South Carolina. Explore, expand, and excel These advantages make Northeastern South Carolina a very attractive place to do business. To learn more about Northeastern South Carolina, reach out to the North Eastern Strategic Alliance (NESA), a regional non-profit economic development organization tasked with working with expanding companies to identify real estate options and to provide coordination between the many partners involved in the expansion process including utilities, permitting agencies, workforce training providers, and others. Visit their website at nesasc.org or contact Director of Strategic Initiatives Jeffrey DeLung directly via email at jdelung@nesasc.org. NORTHEASTERN SOUTH CAROLINA OFFERS EXTENSIVE INFRASTRUCTURE AND COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGES ADVERTISEMENT SITE SELECTION SEPTEMBER 2025 85Next >