Who’s leasing warehouses now
A recent industry post listed top industrial lessees as e‑commerce fulfilment, 3PLs, manufacturers, distributors and cold‑storage operators, reinforcing the tenant mix driving current demand. That snapshot reflects the diverse occupier types competing for modern logistics space and the range of operational needs—from temperature control to rapid replenishment. Owners should expect demand signals to vary by user type rather than a single market narrative. (x.com)
The warehouse market is no longer one story about one tenant. In 2025, Cushman & Wakefield said demand in large U.S. logistics buildings improved most from third-party logistics firms, manufacturers, food-and-beverage users, and e-commerce companies, all chasing different kinds of space. (cushmanwakefield.com) That shows up in the numbers. Cushman & Wakefield said U.S. industrial net absorption hit 176.8 million square feet in 2025, while vacancy held at 7.1% for three straight quarters, which means tenants were still taking space even after a huge construction wave. (cushmanwakefield.com) A big slice of that demand is coming from companies that do shipping for other brands. CBRE said third-party logistics providers should hold about 35% of overall industrial leasing activity in 2025 as retailers and wholesalers outsource warehousing to stay flexible on imports, inventory, and labor. (cbre.com) Those tenants do not shop for warehouses the same way a manufacturer does. JLL said demand from third-party logistics, logistics, and distribution companies rose 13% year over year in 2025, even as many occupiers shortened commitments and delayed final decisions because of tariff uncertainty. (jll.com) Manufacturers are the other group changing the tenant mix. JLL said manufacturing accounts for 19.2% of total U.S. industrial demand now and could reach 30% by 2028 as companies add domestic production to cut supply-chain risk. (jll.com) That matters because a factory user often wants a different building than a fast-shipping retailer. JLL said build-to-suit industrial inquiries are up 117% since 2018, which points to more occupiers asking for custom sites, owned facilities, and long-term cost control instead of taking generic vacant boxes. (jll.com) E-commerce is still in the mix, but it is acting more like a steady base layer than a one-time surge. CBRE said online sales reached 23.2% of U.S. retail sales excluding autos and gasoline in the third quarter of 2024 and expected that share to reach 25.0% by the end of 2025, supporting continued warehouse and distribution demand. (cbre.com) Cold storage adds another wrinkle because refrigerated buildings are their own category of headache. Newmark said average cold-storage rents have risen more than 100% since 2020, the development pipeline still totaled 7.4 million square feet in 2025, and the average U.S. cold-storage building is 42 years old. (nmrk.com) That split between old and new buildings is now running through the whole industrial market. CBRE said buildings built before 2000 posted more than 100 million square feet of negative absorption in 2024, while buildings completed after 2022 posted more than 200 million square feet of positive absorption. (cbre.com) The newest giant boxes are pulling especially hard. CBRE said U.S. industrial leasing jumped 12% in 2025, with facilities larger than 1.2 million square feet posting the biggest year-over-year increase, while Cushman & Wakefield said 43% of demand in buildings built since 2020 came from requirements above 500,000 square feet. (cbre.com) (cushmanwakefield.com) So when people ask who is leasing warehouses now, the answer is not “retail” or “logistics” in the singular. It is a rotating cast of online sellers, outsourced shipping firms, manufacturers, distributors, and refrigerated operators, and each one is sending a different signal on size, location, lease length, and building specs. (cbre.com) (jll.com)
