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A surge of recent leasing activity and sharp uptick in major space requirements points toward a tightening market for industrial space in Eastern Massachusetts.
JLL is tracking 21 million square feet of tenant requirements for industrial space, up 83 percent on a year-over-year basis. Much of the demand is driven by larger users, with 50 tenants seeking to lease at least 100,000 square feet.
At the end of the first quarter, the vacancy rate was 8.1 percent, unchanged from the end of 2025. Tenants leased nearly 1.3 million square feet in the first quarter.
“There is meaningful vacancy, but there is a lot of activity and that could very quickly shift if the deals get done,” said Michael Ciummei, senior managing director for JLL.
Over 1.2 million square feet of speculative projects were delivered in the first quarter, a two-year high. The total included 957,000 square feet of speculative projects which were completed without leases.
Major recent spec projects include 475 Leominster Shirley Road in Lunenberg, a 372,000 square-foot development that received $41.9 million in construction financing from Cambridge Savings Bank in 2021.
But spec construction is dwindling as developers pulled back on projects amid rising vacancies in recent years. Just 715,000 square feet of speculative space is under construction, according to JLL data. Of the total 3.8 million square feet under construction, 83 percent is preleased.
Amazon and large corporate warehouse and distribution tenants are driving the demand for large logistics facilities. JLL is tracking 10 tenants in the market for over 500,000 square feet, primarily warehouse and distribution users.
The majority of the demand is in the south suburban submarket, Ciummei said.
During the first quarter, tenants inked 2.8 million square feet of leases, including 300,000 square feet by Champagne Logistics at 1 National St. in Milford and 248,000 square feet by Primo Brands at Silver City Drive in Taunton.
Average asking rents rose 1.1 percent from the previous quarter to $15.21 per square foot.
