By: Robert Kramp, Senior Vice President and Director of Research, JLL, Midwest and Great Lakes Region

Ohio is a hot spot for industrial investors across the nation. In May 2014, a Minneapolis-based real estate investment group bought a $43 million, 767,000-square-foot portfolio in Northeast Ohio. Another example: A Chicago-based company purchased a 465,000-square-foot Columbus warehouse for $8.5 million in September.

The list of similar, out-of-state investors goes on. It’s more than a trend; Ohio has become an industrial hub. JLL research released three reports, spotlighting related activity in three of the nation’s most active cities—Cincinnati, Cleveland and Columbus.

Why Ohio?

• The Heart of It All: Ohio is America’s heartland. When it comes to location, it has set up shop right on the nation’s metaphorical Main Street. With major airports, highways and rail lines intersecting throughout the state, Ohio is nationally and internationally accessible. Ohio’s transportation infrastructure is ideal for convenient and cost effective delivery.

• Affordability: The Midwest, overall, dominates when it comes to cost-friendly living. A whopping five cities in Ohio made Forbes’ America’s Most Affordable Cities list, including Cincinnati and Columbus, as well as Dayton, Akron and Toledo. Housing affordability, cost-of-living index, and the methodology the Bureau of Labor Statistics uses for rankings of the Consumer Price Index were used to determine which cities made the cut.

• Nurtures Business Success: From Cardinal Health and Google, to Kroger and The Limited Brands, many of America’s top Fortune 500 companies are already doing business in Ohio’s major cities.

In terms of industrial focus, three Ohio cities stand out among the rest, offering cost effective and opportunistic landscapes.

Cincinnati: Industrial and Logistics Hot Spot 

When it comes to local Fortune 500 companies (per million residents), Cincinnati beats out New York, Boston, Chicago and Los Angeles. Thanks to the low cost of business and favorable tax structure, Cincinnati’s environment is highly competitive, and therefore, has attracted both local and foreign investors. Currently, more than 50,000 Cincinnatians are employed by foreign-owned businesses.

Over the past year, Cincinnati experienced increased commercial real estate activity from the e-commerce and manufacturing sectors. eBay is a key example, which recently pre-leased a 631,000-square-foot warehouse. Additional big-name manufacturing companies doing business in Cincinnati include GE and Proctor and Gamble.

• More than 3 million square feet of space under construction.
• 70% of space under construction is speculative.
• More than 4 million square feet absorbed in 2014.

Check out JLL’s full report for more insight and statistics on Cincinnati’s emerging industrial scene.

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