23 May, 2023 | #DatozByDatoz
Vesta, the industrial developer, has positioned itself as the largest constructor of speculative industrial buildings in Mexico, adding 4 million square feet (ft2) over the last 15 months, according to Datoz’s Analytics 2.0. These buildings are distributed across six of the most dynamic industrial real estate markets in the Northern and Bajío regions of the country.
Vesta started construction of over 4 million ft2 of gross leasable area (GLA) in 16 speculative buildings, which are inventory buildings that will be marketed during or after their construction, between January 2022 and March 2023. This does not include the build-to-suit (BTS) expansions they are undertaking for the French aerospace company Safran and the retailer Oxxo in Querétaro, totaling nearly 200,000 ft2.
These construction records exceed the total inventory of the emerging submarket of Huehuetoca-Zumpango in Mexico City by several thousand square feet. Furthermore, Vesta surpassed the speculative construction activity of other major developers such as Vynmsa, Roca Desarrollos, Prologis, E-Group, and Fibra Uno, just to name a few.
Lorenzo D. Berho, CEO at Vesta, stated in his quarterly report to investors that with construction in progress, Vesta has a solid foundation for new construction starts throughout 2023, working with the commercial and development teams in the markets where they have a presence to capture manufacturing and e-commerce opportunities.
Vesta has focused on developing its Vesta Parks, which are sustainable industrial parks with Class A buildings designed for light manufacturing and logistics purposes. The Vesta Parks are located in the most significant industrial real estate markets in the country.
The Vesta Parks where speculative spaces are being developed the most are as follows: Vesta Park Guadalajara, with nearly 1.5 million ft2 GLA; Vesta Park Apodaca in Monterrey, with approximately 900,000 ft2; Vesta Park Juárez Oriente in Ciudad Juárez, with over 500,000 ft2; Vesta Park Mega Región in the Tijuana market, with almost 400,000 ft2; and Vesta Park Querétaro, with over 330,300 ft2.
In addition, Vesta is developing a building in Puerto Interior Guanajuato industrial complex of more than 230,000 ft2 of GLA, and another building in Las Torres industrial park, also located in Ciudad Juárez, with a GLA over 115,000 ft2.
This pace of construction does not mean any problem of oversupply for Vesta, since, in the same 15 months, the developer accumulated gross absorption, that is, it leased spaces for almost 4 million ft2, of which 1 million ft2 were registered in 1Q 2023 and were occupied by multinational companies such as TLC, Polaris, DB Schenker, to mention a few.
Based on this information, we can conclude that Vesta builds in accordance with the demand for lease spaces, indicating that it is likely the developer will continue with this growth strategy throughout 2023.
To obtain more details regarding inventory, spaces under construction, availability, absorption, and more, I recommend visiting the industrial real estate market analysis platform, Datoz: Analytics 2.0. It provides comprehensive information and insights on the subject.