Dear El Cardinale,
What’s up with Amazon? The scuttlebutt is they are expanding again in Charlotte.
– Alexa
Dear Alexa,
Have we spoken before?
Like you, I get a lot of questions about Amazon and I’ve heard the rumors. And while landlords and others are vigorously denying the idea to the public, I have heard from credible sources that the rumors have merit. If Amazon were in the market, they would want to be close to their existing facility near the Charlotte-Douglas International Airport, and I’m guessing they’d want a large space of at least half a million SF. Considering that criteria, there’s only one building that is available: Foundry’s WestPark 85 Phase II
Amazon’s presence in Charlotte’s west side has spurred activity nearby. Distribution buildings have been cropping up all around the e-commerce juggernaut. For example, the 394KSF Clarius building next to Amazon, recently landed a 200KSF tenant, leaving 194KSF of class-A 34’ clear distribution space. I have heard that they chose this location because they anticipate that there will be disgruntled Amazon employees who will be easy to hire.
The market has picked up steam since the beginning of the year. I’m tracking 42 deals in the market ranging from 40KSF to 400KSF. The total is 3,887,400 SF in demand. From my experience, about ⅓ of those deals will land in Charlotte before the end of the year. I am tracking 5,536,000 SF of space that is currently or coming online.
If you have any questions about what this means for the market outlook, feel free to set up a time to talk with me at: https://calendly.com/talktocardinal.