Over the past decade, supply chains have been quietly redrawing the map of industrial logistics in the United States.
A new report from Cushman & Wakefield highlights a major shift already underway. The Southeast has emerged as the nation’s most important region for large-scale industrial development, becoming the primary destination for the next generation of distribution centers, manufacturing facilities, and logistics hubs.
For supply chain leaders, this is not just a real estate story. It is a signal that the physical architecture of the U.S. supply chain is changing, and those changes will have direct implications for network design, facility operations, and how freight moves between transportation and warehouse environments.
Industrial users requiring facilities larger than 700,000 square feet increasingly face limited site options across the United States. According to the Cushman & Wakefield analysis, the Southeast has become the most consistently viable region for accommodating large-scale industrial demand due to land availability, logistics connectivity, and cost advantages.
The data tells a clear story.
Since 2020, nearly 560 million square feet of large-format industrial leasing has occurred across the United States. Of those transactions, roughly one out of every four big-box leases occurred in the Southeast, giving the region the largest share of national large-format demand.
Several structural advantages explain why the region continues to attract large-scale logistics investment:
These factors are making it increasingly difficult for other regions to compete for the next generation of distribution and manufacturing infrastructure.
Another major trend highlighted in the report is the shift away from speculative industrial construction toward purpose-built facilities designed for specific operational requirements.
Following the surge of speculative warehouse construction during the 2020 to 2022 logistics boom, large occupiers are now prioritizing customized build-to-suit development that supports automation, advanced fulfillment systems, and specialized manufacturing processes.
The Southeast has become the national epicenter of this trend.
Nearly 46 percent of all big-box build-to-suit projects delivered or currently underway in the United States are located in the Southeast.
These facilities include both warehouse and manufacturing projects, with major automotive and battery investments further accelerating development in markets such as Georgia and Tennessee.
This trend reflects a broader shift in how enterprises approach supply chain infrastructure. Companies are no longer simply leasing space. They are designing facilities that support long-term operational strategy.
The industries fueling this industrial expansion are closely tied to logistics.
Between 2023 and 2025, 3PL and logistics providers accounted for the largest share of large-format leasing activity in the Southeast, followed by retailers and wholesalers.
This concentration highlights the region’s growing role as a gateway to fast-growing population centers across the Sun Belt.
As supply chains adapt to changing consumption patterns and regional population growth, many companies are repositioning distribution networks closer to these markets.
In practical terms, this means:
Another signal of long-term confidence in the Southeast is the rising number of industrial facility acquisitions.
Large-scale occupiers significantly increased purchases of industrial assets in 2025, particularly in the Southeast and Midwest.
Companies are pursuing ownership strategies to gain:
This shift reflects the growing importance of physical supply chain assets as a competitive advantage.
As distribution centers grow larger and throughput increases, the operational connection between transportation and warehouse execution becomes more complex.
The yard sits at the center of this interaction.
It is where arriving trucks are staged, trailers are organized, and freight transitions from the transportation network into the warehouse environment. In large-scale distribution hubs, this coordination becomes increasingly demanding as trailer volumes rise and dock activity intensifies.
When yard operations run smoothly, they enable consistent dock flow and efficient carrier turn times. When they do not, the yard can quickly become a choke point where congestion, miscommunication, and misplaced equipment begin to slow the entire facility.
In large distribution campuses common across the Southeast, the yard often manages hundreds of trailer movements per day. These movements must stay synchronized with warehouse labor, dock schedules, and transportation arrivals. Even small breakdowns in coordination can create delays that ripple into both warehouse productivity and outbound transportation performance.
For supply chain leaders designing the next generation of distribution networks, the yard is therefore not simply a staging area. It is the operational bridge that keeps transportation and warehouse execution aligned.
The Southeast’s rise as a logistics hub is not just about building bigger facilities. It is about managing increasingly complex supply chain ecosystems.
As networks scale and throughput grows, companies must ensure that the execution layer of their supply chains evolves alongside their infrastructure investments.
That includes the systems, processes, and operational governance required to manage high-volume yards safely and efficiently.
Facilities may be growing larger, but the real competitive advantage will belong to organizations that can execute consistently across every site, every shift, and every yard.
Early indicators suggest that large-format industrial activity in the Southeast will remain strong. Several large transactions are already nearing completion in 2026, signaling continued momentum across the region.
For supply chain leaders, the implications are clear.
The geographic center of U.S. logistics is shifting. Industrial infrastructure is scaling rapidly. And the complexity of operating these networks is increasing just as quickly.
The companies that succeed in this environment will be those that treat operational execution not as a local facility issue, but as a network-wide strategic capability.