Consumer demand is driving the warehouse boom in Central Pennsylvania and Lehigh Valley with ecommerce companies leasing more than half of the space.

Coming off a record-breaking year in 2021, the I-78/I-81 corridor is continuing to experience record low vacancy, record high absorption and record high rents in the commercial real estate market, as well as a construction industry that’s struggling to keep up with demand. 

Industrial tenants in the region can expect sticker shock when their leases come up for renewal according to a new report by CBRE. 

The United States had a record year for large warehouses in 2021 and the I-78/I-81 corridor, running through the Lehigh Valley, Central Pennsylvania and Northeastern Pennsylvania ranked second in the country for these large transactions. 

As expected, commercial real estate activity along the I-78/I-81 corridor ended 2021 by smashing records. 

Unprecedented consumer spending is continuing to drive demand for commercial real estate in the Lehigh Valley according to the latest Northeast Industrial Brief from CBRE. 

Recent reports of such supply chain problems as the 80,000 cargo shipping containers piled up at the Port of Savannah and ships waiting up to nine days to offload their cargo, illustrate why the commercial real estate market is booming in Eastern Pennsylvania along the I-78/I-81 corridor. 

Rent prices for logistics facilities in the Northeast U.S. Corridor are skyrocketing, but that may be good news for developers and property managers in the Lehigh Valley and Central Pennsylvania.

CBRE has named Rija Beares to lead its Greater Philadelphia Region, which includes both the Lehigh Valley and Central Pennsylvania in addition to downtown and suburban Philadelphia, Delaware and Southern New Jersey.

CBRE reports that it arranged the sale of the nearly 2.4 million-square-foot Rausch Creek Logistics Center in Valley View to California-based Panattoni Development Co.