Detroit Industrial Market Report

Demand finds footing, keeping vacancy tight amid another wave of completions. Heading into April, waning tenant demand over the past year — particularly in early 2025 — pressured Detroit’s vacancy, pushing the rate to its highest point since 2015. Fortunately, deliveries during the same interval fell by over 6 million square feet from the prior yearlong span, helping keep Detroit among the nation’s three least vacant major metros. Completions are expected to pick back up slightly through the remainder of 2025, largely concentrated in northern suburbs along key transportation corridors such as Interstate 75 and Michigan Highway. Northwest Oakland County, the submarket encompassing much of the development along I-75, is better positioned to absorb this new supply, having recorded the strongest net absorption among suburban submarkets over the past year. Early second-quarter data also signals a shift in momentum, with net absorption becoming slightly positive following a sharp contraction early in the year. This dynamic is poised to hold vacancy steady over the back half of the year, supporting modest growth in asking rents.