Commercial real estate in the industrial sector: a history of evolution; in the mid-1990s, Mexico experienced a watershed regarding growth, expansion, and development of industrial parks. The reason is the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) entry into force. That, together with the maquiladora decree, meant the first boom of this type of industry.
Before, in 1990, the industrial market in Monterrey was. For example, it was domestic manufacturing and textiles. In the border markets such as Tijuana, Ciudad Juárez, and Matamoros, there was a 30-kilometer line where maquila was allowed.
By 1996, there were only two industrial parks in Monterrey, STIVA Aeropuerto, and Parque Industrial Monterrey. In the rest of the border, groups of industrial buildings were developed, but for the most part, they were single installations. They were places made for the maquila business with low ceilings, and a maneuvering yard was not required.
The great detonator of the manufacturing companies that came with NAFTA. It was cheap labor. In Mexico, four to five times less minimum wage than in the United States.
As a result, the development of industrial parks began. And we saw the growth of FINSA in Monterrey, American Industries, Prologis, and Amistad.
In the first decade of this century. The rapid growth of industrial parks continued. Commercial real estate in the industrial sector: a history of evolution, Built to Suit projects emerged for large automotive and appliance manufacturing and assembly companies.
By 2010, the distribution centers in that region began to develop their distribution chains directly from the Mexican border. This prompted the development of industrial warehouses for storage and distribution. With this, not only was there manufacturing but also logistics impacted the design of ships with world-class specifications and size.
In 2008, the global opening of China took place, which had repercussions in the Mexican market. Many transnational companies left our country because they saw cheaper labor in China.
Now the panorama has changed, and the Mexican border is experiencing its best moments, with occupations above 95%. Due to the pandemic and a wave of companies nearshoring to the US, there is also a rapidly growing logistics market.
Another turning point for the industrial real estate boom at the national level was the arrival of GE Capital around 1995. This US fund was the first debt and institutional capital funder, granting the first loans to FINSA.
development in the capital
In Mexico City, in the mid-1990s, industrial zones such as Vallejo, Naucalpan, and Iztapalapa were perfectly defined. In those places, the transformation industry operated within the city to supply the internal market was housed.
Towards the northern corridor from Tlalnepantla to the Querétaro toll booth, the development of independent ships and E-Group began. There began the construction of warehouse complexes along the Mexico-Querétaro highway.
Between 1998 and 2000, a few steps from the booth, the first Metta Group logistics park was born: the Cedros ecological park. Commercial real estate in the industrial sector: a history of evolution, there were nine warehouses focused on companies dedicated exclusively to logistics, and their first tenant was Exel Logistics.
From that moment came great players in industrial real estate developments, such as AMB, Prologis, and CPA. Who, in conjunction with E-Group and other local developers. They began to build the pillars of this market that remain today.
Since its inception, the sector has never stopped growing to become what it is. Neither more nor less than the country’s leading logistics hub, with world-class industrial buildings of over 100,000 square meters.
In the future, positive times can be seen with less than 5% availability rates and a logistics market that will continue with greater demands for space.
History in the Bajío and Guadalajara
In the Bajío, the story was not different from that of the rest of the country. From a market that built industrial warehouses to satisfy local and regional consumption, the automotive assemblers found a safe place with good logistics and cheap labor with the FTA. It was the right place to start migrating the production of plants from the United States to Mexico.
In the following ten years, all the suppliers of parts also arrived. To a large extent, this generated growth in Guanajuato, Aguascalientes, San Luis Potosí, and Querétaro. Today, this automotive export trend continues in the Bajío, plus supplies for the aerospace and medical industries.
Guadalajara is now known as the Silicon Valley of Mexico and saw the arrival of companies like IBM and Intel accompanied by funds and institutional developers. Thus began the construction of industrial warehouses and support buildings for call centers and back offices.
The airport corridor is where the growth of the industrial real estate market was focused. Since 2010, we have seen institutional players such as Hines, Prologis, and Parks developing parks with a logistics and manufacturing focus.
three decades later
Throughout these 30 years, we must mention the primary disruptors of the industrial real estate market. Undoubtedly, the location of our country, to the south of the world’s leading consumer, has given us an additional advantage.
NAFTA has been the most significant trigger for investment and the growth of industrial parks in Mexico.
The arrival of the leading global funds and developers. Commercial real estate in the industrial sector: a history of evolution in our country has also been a fundamental part of the development and consolidation of the real estate market.
The Fibras, since 2011, with the creation of FUNO, is and will be the vehicle of constant growth.
