The trend: Several ecommerce and logistics companies with ties to China are snapping up warehouse space across the US, per The Wall Street Journal. Companies signing new leases include third-party logistics firms Western Post, Lecangs, and Elogistek, and ecommerce businesses such as Alibaba Group and JD.com.
- Industrial real-estate operator Prologis estimates that China-based third-party logistics providers and ecommerce companies accounted for 20% of net-new warehouse leasing across the US through the first three quarters of the year, per The Journal, which is up significantly over the past few years.
- For example, China-based logistics companies leased 5.6 million square feet of warehouse space through Q3—roughly three times the space they leased in the region a year earlier, per JLL.