Expect more construction of industrial properties this year, while growth in the office market is likely to be “cautious but steady,” according to a Greater Des Moines market report from the Iowa office of JLL.

Industrial vacancies and rents were on the rise last year, primarily due to the addition of large warehouses to the market, and more are expected in 2019.

“In 2018, the Central Iowa industrial market saw over 1.1 million square feet of warehouse space delivered, which was greatly needed because of the backlog of demand. Out of that space nearly 700,000 square feet has been leased as of Q4 2018. In 2019, we anticipate about 800,000 square feet should be delivered to the Central Iowa market. The pipeline heading into 2020 looks to be around 1.5 to 2 million square feet, which tells us that the industrial market continues to have steady momentum,” Marcus Pitts, managing director of the Iowa office, said.

Vacancies were 3.9 percent at the end of the quarter, up from 2.4 percent in 2017, while rents touched $5.60 per square foot, up nearly 20 cents from 2017. Click here to read the full report on the industrial market.

With Kum & Go, IMT Group and the Federal Home Loan Bank of Des Moines building new headquarters or buying old buildings and making them young again, a large amount of abandoned office space hit the market, pushing the office vacancy rate to 15.2 percent from 13.3 percent. 

Still, “landlords should remain optimistic in the near term as the list of tenants looking for new office space is still considerable,” according to the report.

“2018 continued the theme of large companies making strategic decisions to occupy new construction space. … Those deals alone account for over 750,000 square feet of movement in the office market,” Justin Lossner, executive vice president in the Iowa office, said. Click here to read the office report.