“If Someone’s Looking for Space, We Have Space Available”
Christine Harbin and I drove around the Lambert–St. Louis International Airport on Tuesday, to see whether there really was a shortage of warehouse space.
Legislators, after all, are in a rush to pass a bill that would award $300 million to subsidize the construction of new warehouses. That collection of subsidies is known as the “Aerotropolis” bill. Proponents of the $300 million in subsidies say that the creation of new warehouses is crucial to getting more international freight traffic to Saint Louis, primarily from China.
There is a lot of space available near the airport.
I spoke with David Randolph, vice president of CB Richard Ellis, the brokerage company looking to lease the 405,000-square-foot building shown below. Randolph said that he hasn’t seen a shortage of warehouse space.
“If someone’s looking for space, we have space available,” he said.
Randolph disagreed with making tax credits available for the developers of new buildings.
“I personally think it would be a disadvantage to current owners of buildings that exist,” Randolph said, “that only new buildings get tax credits but old buildings do not.”
Matt Harrington, marketing manager at CB Richard Ellis, estimates that there is about 200 million square feet in developed warehouse, manufacturing, and flex space in the Saint Louis metro area, excluding Illinois. With a vacancy rate of 9 percent, about 18 million square feet is available, he said.
Here is some more space available for lease:
And some more:
This blog post could go on. There were many warehouses available for sale or rent. So, why exactly are legislators looking to award $300 million to subsidize the creation of new warehouses? There certainly seems to be no shortage of space for lease.
Christine and I would be happy to provide a tour to any legislators who are unaware that warehouse space is available. Or they could call David Randolph. His company’s phone number is listed on the “Available” sign above.
“So, why exactly are legislators looking to award $300 million to subsidize the creation of new warehouses?”
Follow the money trail. Who benefits the most from this. How many dollars of campaing contributions have been made…cynical, I know.
This is sorta my same responce to the Kansas City Convention Hotel. Who really benefits. How much money have they given to the politicians pushing for these projects.
Comment by seymour01 — May 11, 2011 @ 3:50 p.m.
[...] warehouse, manufacturing and flex space available across the St. Louis region, excluding Illinois, according to the blog post written by Spalding. The vacancy rate is currently around 9 [...]
Pingback by No need for subsidized warehouse space, analysts find — May 11, 2011 @ 9:17 p.m.
Audrey and Christine, great job! I hope legislators see this before voting on the subsidy.
Comment by Kenneth Thomas — May 11, 2011 @ 10:44 p.m.
The fall of the Asian Tigers several years ago was chalked up to “Crony Capitalism.” Who knew we the same thing here.
Comment #1 says it all. Just follow the money.
Comment by Quartermaster — May 12, 2011 @ 6:30 a.m.
[...] politically-connected business elite. My colleagues at the Show-Me Institute found that there were more than 18 million square feet in warehouse space available around the airport already, yet the Aerotropolis tax credits would go to subsidize construction of even more. That hurts [...]
Pingback by The Next Big Handout: An “Aerotropolis” near you? « The Greenroom — May 19, 2011 @ 9:35 a.m.
“Matt Harrington, marketing manager at CB Richard Ellis, estimates that there is about 200 million square feet in developed warehouse, manufacturing, and flex space in the Saint Louis metro area, excluding Illinois.”
It is relatively easy to get ahold of the tax parcel database for St Louis County. Warehousing, storage, and flex spaces are commercial use codes 391 through 401. That is 3061 parcels containing 5064 structures totaling 100,822,135 sf. Of these structures, 3936 (still 100.3M sf) were over 1,000 sf and 1971 were over 10,000 sf (down to 91.8M sf).
If there is 200M sf of warehouse, manufacturing, and flex space in St Louis Metro Area as Mr. Harrington suggests, where is it? It does not appear to be in St Louis County.
Comment by Brett — May 31, 2011 @ 9:22 a.m.
Brett,
Thank you for your comment and research! I can’t hash out the details of analysis that I didn’t do — but, you can examine CBRE’s report more closely at http://www.cbre.com/USA/Research/Local+Reports+Worldwide/globalresearch.htm
You do have to register to download CBRE’s reports, but registration is free — all you have to do is provide an email address. You can then download the St. Louis Industrial Market 1st quarter report. Page 2 shows a breakdown of square feet available in the St. Louis area.
Comment by Audrey Spalding — May 31, 2011 @ 11:57 a.m.
[...] hard time stealing the Second City’s air cargo business. The Missouri Budget Project’s analysis says there is “excessive unused existing capacity for international cargo movement throughout the [...]
Pingback by Air cargo expert says St. Louis wants a $360 million ‘ransom’ | Freight Collection — August 31, 2011 @ 8:28 a.m.
[...] warehouse, manufacturing and flex space available across the St. Louis region, excluding Illinois, according to the blog post written by Spalding. The vacancy rate is currently around 9 [...]
Pingback by No need for subsidized warehouse space, analysts find in Mo. | Watchdog Test — April 6, 2012 @ 4:59 p.m.
[...] warehouse, manufacturing and flex space available across the St. Louis region, excluding Illinois, according to the blog post written by Spalding. The vacancy rate is currently around 9 [...]
Pingback by No need for subsidized warehouse space, analysts find in Mo. — April 18, 2012 @ 9:54 a.m.