Recently a client asked me to find an industrial building to purchase in Portland, South Portland, Westbrook or Scarborough. Using an online database shared by most commercial real estate brokers in Greater Portland, I searched for industrial buildings ranging from 5,000 square feet to 10,000 square feet.
I was astounded at the results: On September 19, only four properties met these criteria, and one was under contract.
Wondering if this was a symptom of the industrial real estate market in general, I searched for space available for lease that fit the same parameters.
Using the same cities, size range and property type, I found 33 availabilities.
Although many available spaces for lease are in larger buildings with multiple units, the vast difference between sale and lease opportunities is striking. A few factors account for this difference. (Continued on PDF)