There was a time in Buffalo Niagara’s not too distant past where industrial real estate availability hovered around or above the double-digits, absorption rates were routinely negative and the local economy suffered mightily as manufacturing operations closed shop permanently or moved overseas.
Luckily those bygone days are now well back in the rear-view mirror, but more recently economic developers have faced the complete opposite (and perhaps more dire) issue: at 2.6% Buffalo Niagara has one of the lowest industrial availability rates in the nation, according to market research conducted by CBRE|Buffalo.
Recognizing the need for a comprehensive strategy and with an eye toward smart growth in bringing additional industrial buildings to the market and preparing land sites for development, Invest Buffalo Niagara initiated its WNY Industrial Real Estate Development Strategy with the assistance of global site selection firm Newmark Knight Frank.
Although the Invest Buffalo Niagara and Newmark Knight Frank teams worked diligently on many of the study’s aspects throughout the global pandemic, health considerations and travel restrictions made it extremely difficult to administer site visits/evaluations to the 48 “Priority Properties” as identified by our region economic development partners.
With some creative thinking and dynamic scheduling, property tours of the “Priority 48” took place on September 9-11 and September 14-16. With nearly 1,000 new miles on the odometer, the InBN and NKF teams visited industrial buildings and sites (both greenfields and brownfields) across the eight counties of Western New York - both urban and rural.
Below is a sample of some of the great industrial properties that will receive a complete work-up from the Newmark Knight Frank team to help us best position the properties for end users in the advanced manufacturing and food processing sectors.
