Charleston, South Carolina
For big-box industrial occupiers — those with requirements exceeding 700,000 square feet — the Southeast has emerged as the nation's most consistently viable region for large-scale logistics, manufacturing and retail/wholesale facilities, according to the latest Cushman & Wakefield big box industrial report.
The region's combination of scalable site availability, strong transportation connectivity and competitive cost structures has created structural advantages that are increasingly difficult to replicate elsewhere, the report said.
Between 2020 and 2025, Southeast markets accounted for 137.2 million square feet of leases for facilities 700,000 square feet or larger, surpassing the Midwest (117.6 million per square foot), South Central (80.6 million per square foot) and other U.S. regions. Nearly one in four big-box leases signed nationwide since 2020 have occurred in the Southeast, underscoring the area's outsized role in large-format industrial activity.
While the national leasing trend peaked during the 2020-2022 expansion cycle, moderated consumer demand, higher real estate costs and a cooling economy have since tempered activity. Even so, the Southeast and Midwest were the only regions to post meaningful annual increases in 2025, with the Southeast leading big-box leasing in four of the past five years.
The nature of big-box delivery also is evolving. Nationally, 85.4% of large-format leases over the past three years have been executed in buildings delivered since 2020, reflecting occupiers' early moves to secure speculative space. Cushman & Wakefield notes that as requirements became more defined, occupiers shifted toward build-to-suit (BTS) solutions, emphasizing operational control, automation and tailored layouts.
The Southeast dominates BTS development, representing 45.8% of U.S. large-scale BTS projects delivered or underway since 2020, with warehouse/distribution facilities accounting for 75.7% of activity. Plus, manufacturing facilities, including automotive and battery projects by Hyundai in Savannah, General Motors in Nashville and SK Innovation in Atlanta, comprise a growing share.
Large-scale user purchases surged in 2025, particularly in the Southeast and Midwest, signaling long-term confidence in these markets' ability to support high-volume operations while offering direct control over occupancy costs, according to Cushman & Wakefield.
Cushman & Wakefield highlights that site availability is narrowing, with developable land thinning in the region's most active markets. For occupiers, this underscores a more disciplined approach to site selection and the importance of timely decision-making. Early 2026 activity already shows several large-format deals nearing execution, suggesting continued momentum for Southeast big-box industrial, even amid a more measured, strategic leasing environment, the report said.
This article first published on GlobeSt.com.
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