They’re Back! BBQ lunches, Cash Awards, Swag Bags and other Goodies to Draw Broker Attention to New Industrial Listings

The most recent NAI Global Industrial Council meeting hosted by Steve Pastor, chairperson of the NAI Global Industrial Council, served as an exclamation point to the current industrial market in the U.S. – it has slowed dramatically from the frenetic pace of activity a year ago.

Pastor is Vice President, Global Supply Chain & Ports/Rail Logistics, with NAI James E. Hanson in Teterboro, NJ and NAI Global Industrial Council Chair.

After several speakers cited reduced leasing activity as well as fewer construction starts during their reports on their respective markets, Lee Black, with NAI Nashville Stanton Group in Tennessee, said this: “I thought it was only me.” He also stated, as a case in point, that a 400,000-square-foot deal he was working on for months is now on hold.

Matt Osowski, SIOR, with NAI Ohio Equities in Columbus, OH, echoed Black: “I hate to sound like a broken record,” when he reported a slower market in the heartland, to which Black shot back “that we are starting to see broker-open house giveaways again.”

Coincidentally, Arie Salomon, with NAI Puget Sound Properties in Seattle was the next speaker, and he relayed that he and his team had just hosted a broker open house for his client, Bridge Development, which recently completed a pair of 36-foot clear height industrial buildings of approximately 178,000 square feet and 135,000 square feet, respectively. The properties are just south of Sea-Tac International Airport near I-5.

The draw: a bountiful spread of sides to go along with catered BBQ, $100 cash to each broker that showed up and a pair of Nike shoes with their names inscribed on them. Almost 60 brokers attended and toured the assets – a very solid number for a smaller market with about 250 million square feet of inventory, especially in summer, said Salomon.

One of the brokers that attended is showing the properties to one of his clients for leasing consideration.

“I’ve been in this industry for over two decades and several cycles, and don’t recall offering lunch and other incentives in the Seattle area to market the properties,” Salomon said.

Indeed, since the dawn of the digital age, technology and electronic communication has been the usual, go-to resource to draw broker attention to new-to-market listings and get them leased.

“Broker open houses with raffles, cash prizes, food and other giveaways is an old school, tried-and-true tactic, because it works. People show up, including people that may not always go to open houses,” said Steve Pastor. Pastor added that the slowing market and lower levels of construction isn’t surprising to him or the Council, as they have been reporting on the direction of the market and expecting current conditions to play out the way they are since early 2023.

However, while leasing has slowed, it’s far from dead.

Pastor and his colleague from NAI James E. Hanson, Kim Kocur, recently completed leases of approximately 414,000 square feet and 225,000 square feet in California’s Inland Empire with Nick Chang, CCIM, SIOR, with NAI Capital.

Salomon reported that he had recently completed significant industrial leases for Steelcase and an international logistics company. The Steelcase deal was for 211,000 square feet and completed with Isy Sonabend with NAI Horizon in West Phoenix on Camelback Road in the (new) SR 303 submarket, where a who’s who of national builders have been delivering new industrial inventory in recent years.

The logistics company client of Salomon, meanwhile, committed to new leases in Chicago – a +100,000-square-foot deal in the Chicago O’Hare International Airport submarket completed with Adam Roth, CCIM, SIOR, of NAI Hiffman; and a 25,000-square-foot lease in the airport submarket of Las Vegas, which was completed with Eric Larkin, SIOR, CCIM, with NAI Excel.

Contributors

• Steve Pastor, NAI James E. Hanson, Teterboro, NJ
• Michael Stanzel, SIOR, NAI Robert Lynn, Dallas, TX
• Adam Roth, SIOR, CCIM, NAI Hiffman, Chicago, IL
• Hal Johnson, SCCED, NAI Earle Furman, Greenville, SC
• Jeff Wilke, SIOR, LEED AP, NAI Latter & Blum, New Orleans, LA
• Bryce Custer, SIOR, CCIM, NAI Spring, Ohio and W. Virginia
• Fred Meyer, SIOR, NAI Mertz, Mt. Laurel, NJ
• Ed Brown, SIOR, CCIM, NAI Tri Properties, Raleigh, NC
• Mike Chambers, NAI Brannen Goddard, Atlanta, GA
• Matt Osowski, SIOR, NAI Ohio Equities, Columbus, OH
• Lee Black, NAI Nashville Stanton Group, Nashville, TN
• Mike Adams, NAI Summit, Allentown, PA
• Bob Sullivan, NAI Sullivan Group, Oklahoma City, OK
• Clark Everett, NAI Sullivan Group, Oklahoma, City, OK
• Steve Martens, CPM, CCIM, SIOR, NAI Martens, Wichita, KS
• Jim Caronna, SIOR, NAI KLNB, Baltimore, MD
• Jeff Licht, SIOR, NAI Mertz, Philadelphia, PA
• Kim Kocur, NAI James E. Hanson, Teterboro, NJ
• Josh Katz, NAI KLNB, Leesburg Pike, VA
• Lauren Larson, NAI Affinity, Fort Collins, CO
• Ken Lundberg, SIOR, NAI James E. Hanson, Teterboro, NJ
• Arie Salomon, NAI Puget Sound Properties, Seattle, WA
• Christian Davey, NAI Cressy, Mishawaka, IN
• Nick Peterson, SIOR, NAI Robert Lynn, Houston, TX
• Mark Wardlaw, NAI Fortis, Louisville, KY
• Joey Ferguson, NAI Swisher & Martin Realty, Laredo, TX