From January 1 to April 15, 2024, the Ministry of Economy identified 93 investment announcements with an expected investment of $36.153 billion USD, 16% of which will be allocated to Querétaro. Consequently, this industrial real estate market leads these investment announcements. In this context, industrial developers have prepared to accommodate expansions and new companies in their industrial parks, leading to an increase in construction starts and the availability of industrial spaces in Querétaro over the past year.
At the end of 1Q 2024, Querétaro reached an availability of industrial spaces exceeding 600,000 m². While this is not the highest figure, which was recorded in 2023, it continues the unusual trend for this industrial real estate market, as the average available space between 2016 and 2022 was 390,000 m², according to Analytics 2.0 from Datoz.
However, half of the available space, 300,000 m², is still under construction. Only 300,000 m² of available space is ready for occupancy, with the rest having started construction in recent months. Consequently, the availability rate for the market, which has an inventory of 7 million m², stood at 4.7% for completed spaces and 4% for spaces under construction.
It is worth noting that between 2022 and 2023, Querétaro recorded the highest levels of construction starts since 2014, the year Datoz began its records, reaching averages of 500,000 m² annually. This contrasts with the 70,000 m² constructed between 2020 and 2021, and an average of around 200,000 m² in the preceding years. In the 1Q 2024 alone, nearly 30,000 m² of construction starts were recorded.
The significant investments in the development of industrial buildings over the past two years by developers such as E-Group, Construye Industrial, AM Desarrollos Inmobiliarios, Vesta, Finsa, EQT Exeter, and others, occur in a context where nearshoring has driven a historic demand for industrial spaces in the north of the country. Consequently, this trend is also expected to extend to the Bajío region, including Querétaro.
Indeed, Querétaro also exceeded the traditional averages for gross absorption of industrial spaces, surpassing 500,000 m² in 2022. Similarly, in the first three months of 2024, gross absorption reached 120,000 m². With investment announcements from companies in the automotive sector, mainly from ZF Group, GG Cables and Wires, among others, which will materialize throughout the rest of the year, absorption will remain strong. Consequently, both the delivered and under-construction available spaces will be occupied.
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