Milwaukee Industrial Market Report

Slow pre-leasing pressures availability, while manufacturing anchors sector. Closing out 2022, metro vacancy ticked up from its historic low of 2.7 percent, but remained 140 basis points below the trailing-decade average. This year, more than 4 million square feet of new supply — the second-largest delivery slate on record — will apply additional upward pressure as just one-third is accounted for as of early 2023. This wave of speculative deliveries will push industrial availability back near the 2019 level. Nevertheless, expanding manufacturing efforts should put a lid on the metrowide vacancy increase. An average asking rent that is the third lowest among major U.S. metros has helped encourage companies like Milwaukee Tool and Palermo Villa, Inc. to expand their local industrial presence in the coming year. Also attracting firms, the market has a long-established manufacturing talent pool, with about 14 percent of the employment base working within the sector — the second-highest proportion in the country. This year, meanwhile, 40 percent of local manufacturing companies expect the sector to increase staff counts.