A high-level look at leasing, rent, construction, and sales activity across the Denver industrial market — current conditions, five-year history, and the forecast through 2030. Data sourced from CoStar, current as of 8/7/2026.
This report covers the full Denver metro industrial market across 39 tracked submarkets — including the DIA and SW DIA/Pena Blvd logistics corridors, Commerce City, Northwest Denver, and the broader I-70/270 and C-470 rings — spanning roughly 290 million square feet across the Logistics, Specialized Industrial, and Flex property types. Denver remains a key economic hub in the Rocky Mountain region, anchored by a population of just over 3.1 million and direct connectivity through Denver International Airport, which serves as the market's primary logistics hub. The metro's workforce is highly educated, with about half of residents holding a bachelor's degree or higher, well above the national average, and population and job growth have cooled to under 1% and roughly 0.2% annually, respectively, while median household income of $113,062 remains well above the $85,156 national figure.
Denver's industrial vacancy has climbed to 9.2%, a two-decade high, as the market works through the development surge that occurred between 2021 and 2024. Annual net absorption has essentially flatlined at 1.3M SF, though roughly 70% of submarkets reported a contraction in net absorption over the past year, with older buildings (pre-1980) bearing the brunt at -1.7M SF while product built in the past two years posted +2M SF. Aerospace tenants have become increasingly active in Northwest and Southeast Denver, headlined by Boom Supersonic's 93,520-SF lease in Centennial, while 3PL tenants are reengaging near the airport — BroadRange Logistics signed a 10.5-year, 1.1M-SF lease at 76 Commerce Center. Landlords across the quality spectrum are competing with an excess of available space from the recent building boom, which delivered 32.3M SF over the past five years, pushing vacancy in buildings built in that window to nearly 30%.
Shaded years (2026–2030) are forecast
Shaded years (2026–2030) are forecast
Industrial rents have moved by -2.2% annually, well below the pre-pandemic five-year average of 6.8%, and annual rent growth has fallen to its lowest level in more than a decade. Average rents of $11.63/SF blend widely by product type — Flex commands $16.02/SF while large distribution space near Denver International Airport, the market's primary logistics hub, often leases in the $7–$8/SF range given the abundance of developable land there. Tenants are displaying a lack of urgency in lease negotiations, and 10-year lease terms are becoming common as both landlords and tenants invest more in build-out — BroadRange Logistics' 1.1M-SF, 10.5-year deal at 76 Commerce Center and Quality Electrical Distribution's 10-year, 220,000-SF lease at Stafford Logistics Center are recent examples. Rent growth has the potential to accelerate again in 2027 as space availability tightens given the limited pipeline of speculative development on track to complete, though Denver will enter that recovery with a materially higher vacancy rate than most major markets.
Shaded years (2026–2030) are forecast
Investment activity is increasing after several years of repricing, with trailing 12-month sales volume of $2.0B, matching the market's five-year average though below the late-2021 peak of $3.4B. The average sale price sits at $169/SF, down from $178/SF during the pandemic-era boom, though pricing has begun to find a floor as quarterly volume has reached its strongest levels since early 2022. Buyer composition has shifted considerably — institutional investors and REITs now represent just 17% of activity versus a five-year average of 31%, with local private capital, high-net-worth investors, and owner-users driving much of the volume. Investors are favoring assets with durable occupancy and limited leasing risk: the 512,720-SF Home Depot build-to-suit at 3601 N Telluride St sold for $75.1M ($146/SF) in June, exemplifying continued demand for modern, single-tenant logistics properties leased to creditworthy occupiers.
| Highest Asking Rent | $/SF |
|---|---|
| Upper Central | $24.77 |
| Denver Tech Center | $20.52 |
| Meridian | $19.39 |
| Greenwood Village | $19.12 |
| Arapahoe Rd | $17.59 |
| Lowest Vacancy by Submarket | Rate |
|---|---|
| Park County | 2.1% |
| Denver Tech Center | 2.1% |
| East Hampden | 3.2% |
| West Denver | 3.6% |
| Highlands Ranch | 4.1% |
Roughly 5.7M SF is under construction — a return to prepandemic norms and down from the recent peak of 10.7M SF in early 2023 — as tighter lending standards and Denver's elevated vacancy have given developers pause on new starts. Local construction starts over the past four quarters totaled just 2.6M SF, down 70% from 2021 peak levels and 50% below the five-year prepandemic average. Most recently delivered inventory fell in the 100,000–250,000-SF range, where oversupply is most acute at nearly 14% vacancy, and another six speculative, unleased projects totaling 660,000 SF are slated to complete this year. Build-to-suit remains the exception to the broader pullback — PepsiCo is finishing a 1.2M-SF manufacturing facility near DIA that will be its largest plant in North America, and Phillip Morris is building an 800,000-SF plant nearby, both slated to complete this year. With the pipeline representing roughly 2.0% of inventory, in line with the national average, oversupply conditions are expected to persist through 2026 before space availability begins to tighten in 2027.