100 Meadow Rd.

Demand for industrial real estate remained strong in the first quarter with large transactions filling up warehouse and flex space in eastern Massachusetts.

The market has seven straight quarters of positive absorption, according to Transwestern RBJ’s IndSTATus report released this week, including 1.5 million square feet in the last 12 months.

Large transactions include Cold Chain Technologies’ 227,000-square-foot lease at 135 Constitution Boulevard in Franklin and HD Supply’s 152,000-square-foot renewal at 100 Meadow Road in National Development’s Boston Business Park.

Warehouse vacancies fell 0.9 percent to 10.1 percent, while average rents hit their highest level since 2008 at $6.05 per square foot. The Route 495 South submarket had the strongest quarter with 231,000 square feet of net absorption, including the Cold Chain Technology lease.

Flex space had 292,000 square feet of positive absorption, with rents hitting 2005 levels at $10.10 per foot. Major transactions included OYO Sports’ lease of 64,000 square feet at 111 Locke Drive in Marlborough and Scheidt & Bachmann’s move into 72,000 square feet at 1001 Pawtucket Boulevard in Lowell.

Manufacturing space waned with 121,000 square feet of negative absorption during the quarter, nearly half of which was in the I-495 South submarket. Manufacturing vacancy rates range from 3.3 percent in Route 128 South to 25.3 percent in I-495 South.

Overseas instability and the strong dollar affected the manufacturing economy in the quarter, the report said, after a four-year period in which vacancies dropped by more than 6 percent to 11 percent in the Greater Boston market.