DENVER, Apr 19, 2004 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- ProLogis (NYSE: PLD), a leading global provider of distribution facilities and services, today released its second semi-annual research report focusing on the construction pipelines in the top 30 distribution and warehouse markets in the United States. The latest U.S. Construction Pipeline Report provides a year-end 2003 snapshot of construction trends for bulk warehouses and distribution facilities and projects further increases in 2004.
For a copy of the report, visit http://ir.prologis.com, go to the "Proprietary Research" page and select "U.S. Construction Pipeline: Year-end 2003."
Produced by the ProLogis Research Group, the report summarizes and synthesizes the project-specific information collected by ProLogis' market officers. These in-house experts are actively engaged in their markets, literally driving through them on a regular basis in addition to canvassing local brokers, developers, lenders and tenants, to keep abreast of fundamental market conditions. This report draws on their expertise to identify all the competitive bulk warehouses and distribution facilities that were either started or completed during 2003 within their markets.
According to Leonard Sahling, first vice president of ProLogis and head of the ProLogis Research Group, "Last year, developers continued to exercise general restraint and self-discipline in most U.S. markets." He added,
"This trend of controlled development is a welcome departure from the past exuberance that has fueled the boom-and-bust cycles that have dogged the commercial real estate industry."
Key findings of the U.S. Construction Pipeline Report include:
* Newly started bulk distribution and warehouse projects increased in 2003 after bottoming out in 2002. New starts in the nation's top 30 markets totaled 70 million square feet last year, up 17% from the year before.
* Despite the increase from 2002, total new starts were nearly 40% below the cyclical peak reached in 2000.
* Last year's increase in new starts was tilted toward "spec" projects, which accounted for 59% of total starts during 2003, compared to 45% during the previous year.
* With deliveries usually lagging behind starts by 6 to 12 months, it comes as no surprise that deliveries continued to trend downward during 2003. Newly delivered bulk warehouses and distribution centers mounted to 63 million square feet in 2003, compared to 77 million square feet during the previous year.
* Six of the 30 markets reported volumes of new starts for 2003 of more than double what they had been in 2002: Charlotte, Columbus, Indianapolis, Louisville, Northern New Jersey and Phoenix.
* Four of the 30 markets reported no new starts at all during 2003: Austin, San Francisco Bay, St. Louis and Tampa.
