United Properties has broken ground on five industrial facilities across the Twin Cities that will bring 750,000 square feet of industrial space to the market.
The projects are worth about $75 million combined and include sites in Burnsville, Inver Grove Heights and a Brooklyn Park business park that will gain three new buildings.
Minneapolis-based United Properties, which is owned by the Pohlad Cos., said that half the space being developed has been preleased. The buildings are expected to house a mix of warehouse, office and manufacturing spaces, officials said.
"Despite the uncertainty around the economic impacts of COVID-19, and most recently the rising construction costs and material lead times, we continue to see robust leasing velocity and new tenant requirements across the Twin Cities," said United Properties Senior Vice President and Market Leader Brandon Champeau.
He noted that United Properties is pouncing on the increased demand for industrial buildings with a mix of customized, preleased and speculative offerings. The mix "is evidence of the strength of our site positions in each submarket," he said.
Demand for industrial warehouses, data centers, logistic and distribution centers across Minnesota has flourished in the era of COVID-19.
In contrast, demand for office construction remains slow as business tenants remain uncertain if remote work or work-from-home trends will thwart the need for more office space in the future.
Meanwhile, industrial occupancy rates and new builds have remained strong since industrial businesses were deemed essential and allowed to continue operations onsite.
