Top 3 Emerging Markets for Industrial Real Estate

Warehouses don't have to be located in California's Inland Empire, New Jersey or Memphis to be effective. Emerging warehouse markets throughout the country offer corporate real estate opportunities for companies to access regional, national and international markets with access to excellent transportation networks. Here are three of the country's emerging markets:

California Central Valley

While the Inland Empire, centered east of Los Angeles at the confluence of Interstate 10 and 15 may be the country's hottest industrial market, it has two fundamental problems. The Tehachapi mountains are a major geographical barrier to access to Northern California and it's an extremely crowded market. Moving north into the Central Valley provides easier access to northern markets while maintaining two routes into the Southern California markets.

Southern Central Valley locations are one day drives to San Diego, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Las Vegas, San Francisco, Fresno, Sacramento, Reno and Mexican maquilladoras in Tijuana and Mexicali. In addition, Interstate 5 connects to Portland, Seattle and Vancouver, British Columbia. With California's recent changes to its sales tax laws, eCommerce businesses have already started to realize the benefit of a Central Valley location. Amazon.com has added a northern Central Valley location east of San Francisco to its corporate real estate portfolio. Best Buy is located near Fresno and Ikea and Dollar General are in Lebec at the valley's southern end.

Central Pennsylvania

Moving west from the usual New Jersey markets conveys multiple benefits. The Central Pennsylvania warehouse market located east of Harrisburg and west of Bethlehem offers one day trucking times to Eastern seaboard markets from Portland, ME to Raleigh, NC. Toronto and Montreal are accessible within a day, as well as Syracuse, NY, Pittsburgh, PA, Cleveland and Columbus, OH and Detroit, MI. Many West Virginia warehouse markets are within a day's drive as well.

In addition to a central location outside of the congestion of the Eastern Seaboard, Central Pennsylvania has an extensive network of Interstate highways, many of which offer direct connections to major markets without having to use Interstate 95. The market also has comprehensive rail service and multiple cargo airports to its benefit.

Anchorage, Alaska

Alaska has more than moose, oil, and Sarah Palin. Its extreme northern location allows air cargo shippers to use polar routes to reach most of the developed world in 9 hours or less. Businesses that need the ability to quickly ship products to American, European and Asian markets can add an Anchorage location to their corporate real estate portfolios to gain access to global markets from a single warehouse. Rail-marine service provided by the Alaska Railroad makes stocking your warehouse affordable while the advanced cargo handling capabilities of Anchorage's Ted Stevens airport - one of the world's busiest air cargo facilities - ensures that your shipments go out on time and are on budget.