Guadalajara's Thriving Industrial Market: A Strategic Location for Transport and Logistics Companies

Guadalajara's industrial market is a thriving center of manufacturing in Mexico, with a wide range of businesses and industrial sectors producing goods and services for both national and international markets. This makes Guadalajara a strategic location for transport and logistics companies. Over the past two years, the industrial area occupied by these companies has increased by 12%, according to SiiLA Market Analytics database and analysis. Transport and logistics companies are the second most significant sector occupying industrial space in Guadalajara after electronics companies.

In late 2022, distributor ALMER and specialist in intermodal transport Aflex absorbed nearly 12,000 square meters to establish distribution and storage centers in the Periferico Sur submarket of Guadalajara. And more recently, in March 2023, FedEx inaugurated a new operating station in Guadalajara City with an extension of 7,300 square meters at of USD$3 million. ALMER, Aflex, and FedEx, along with many other companies in the transportation and logistics sector, have chosen to establish themselves in high-quality properties.  

Currently, 74% of the space occupied by transportation and logistics companies is considered Class A industrial. The Class A industrial occupancy rate has increased at a rate 2X the rate of lower class industrial properties over the past 2 years. According to Market Analytics, between 2020 and 2022, the total Class A industrial inventory increased by 13%, while Class B industrial inventory only increased by 7%.  

This trend suggests that the demand for high-quality industrial buildings is consistently growing in the transport and logistics sector. The companies in this sector are willing to invest in quality properties to improve their efficiency and gain a competitive advantage in their facilities, such as more strategic locations, security, and comfort.

Solistica, Kuehne+Nagel, Logistica Flexible, Ryder System, Intermerk, Estafeta, and DHL are among the transport and logistics companies that occupy the most industrial space in Guadalajara. Together, these conglomerates occupy over 249,400 square meters, equivalent to 39% of the total area occupied by companies in the sector in Guadalajara's industrial market.

It is also important to note, 68% of the gross leasable area occupied by transport and logistics companies is concentrated in the El Salto and Zapopan Norte submarkets. These regions are home to prominent industrial parks such as Prologis Park Los Altos (Prologis), Poniente Industrial Park, CPA Guadalajara Technology Park (CPA) and Parque Industrial Guadalajara, which were practically fully occupied by the fourth quarter of 2022. Visit SiiLA SPOT to learning more about industrial properties available in these regions.

The combination of strategic location (with access to roads and thorough fares), available land (for built-to-suit properties), competitive rental costs (between $4.7 and $5.4 per square meter), government support (such as tax incentives), and good infrastructure (electricity, water, and telecommunications, as well as access to public and private transportation services) makes El Salto and Zapopan Norte attractive for transport and logistics companies looking to establish themselves in Guadalajara.

If you want to learn more about the commercial real estate market in Mexico, visit SiiLA or contact us at contacto@siila.com.mx.