Everything is Bigger in Austin
Q3 2021 Austin Industrial Outlook
Austin is hot. Anywhere you look, you see head-turning numbers. From record population growth, housing price growth, and job growth. Those topics are in the news almost daily but look no further than Austin’s industrial market regarding scorching development. This year alone, two major projects will push Austin over the 10 million square feet delivered of industrial space. Amazon’s 3.8 million square foot project is delivering this year, along with the Tesla Gigafactory at around 4.5 million SF slated to finish later in the year; Austin is putting up some real numbers for a city with a metro population of approximately 2 million. As a result, areas like Buda and Kyle have benefited tremendously from the industrial boom. Land in the suburban areas of Austin has become more and more desirable for industrial development. A lot of the Austin industrial development is taking place on the actual periphery of town, however. From Dripping Springs, through Manchaca, to Kyle and Buda, it is a whole new world of industrial space that did not exist just a few years ago. This suburban sprawl significantly departed from previous decades when site selectors were chasing cheap land only to find themselves with restrictions on every corner, from zoning regulations to tree preservation orders. Now, there is a myriad of land opportunities on the suburban fringe that allow for massive projects to be built on large lots with no site limitations.
The two projects mentioned at the top of the article, namely the Tesla Gigafactory and Amazon’s 3.8 million square foot project, are going up in one of these new suburban industrial hotspots. On a map, you will see how the two projects are located east of I-35, about twenty minutes apart. Also, note there is also a sizable lot available immediately adjacent to these two major developments for future development. It is unlikely anything will go into that empty lot before at least one or more of these developments have been completely built out. It is a sign of the times, though, as warehouse space is no longer scarce. The days of locating a project in a far-flung suburb, miles from major shopping centers are over. All these major companies want to be located at or near major population centers. The Austin metro area has hit that point where it has saturated all the suburbs with the best real estate and has proven itself a large enough market to attract world-class companies like Amazon and Tesla.