Logistics / Infrastructure
Recent Features
How Tariffs Are Rewiring Logistics
Industrial real estate is entering a new phase as tariff policy, slowing e-commerce growth, and changing trade routes reshape where demand is strongest — and where vacancy is rising fastest.
The Infrastructure of Intelligence
Why the next economic map will be drawn in megawatts, not square feet.
What Does “Site Readiness” Really Mean?
A roundup of programs—and the consultants who know what they’re worth.
40th Annual Corporate and 22nd Annual Consultant Site Selection Survey Results
For decades, the bedrock question of corporate site selection was some version of the same calculation: where can we do this most cheaply? That era is not simply fading. According to the results of Area Development's 2026 Annual Survey of Site Selection Consultants, it has ended. Welcome to the new era of operational certainty.
Last Word: When Incentives Lead, Projects Follow—Often in the Wrong Direction
Why chasing the biggest package can derail site selection decisions before they begin.
Forestry and Related Products: Why Location Mistakes Are So Hard to Undo
What corporate site selection teams must understand before committing long-term capital.
Speed Built In—The Real Differentiator for 2026 Site Selection Projects
After a year where “shovel ready” often unraveled under scrutiny, the forward play is fewer unknowns and faster paths to operation—because constraints decide the field before incentives do.
Strategic Industries at the Crossroads: Defense, Aerospace, and Maritime Enter 2026
As industrial policy accelerated, the gap between ambition and execution widened: supply chain security, workforce clearance, and infrastructure bottlenecks revealed the unforgiving realities of building strategic industries at home.
The Geography of Packaging: Why Location Strategy Matters More Than Ever
Smarter expansion begins with smarter location decisions — especially as automation, sustainability, and supply chain risk redefine the packaging industry.
In Focus: Korea’s Blueprint for Sustainable U.S. Expansion
Why advanced manufacturers are treating site selection as a long-term business strategy, not a transaction.
Preparing for the Next USMCA Shake-Up
Business leaders should brace for potential costs and disruptions as North America’s free trade deal heads for review.
The Cold Chain Sector Recalibration
A surge of new supply, aging legacy facilities, and shifting operator strategies are creating a widening divide between modern, efficient assets and obsolete space across the nation’s cold storage footprint.
Last Word: Smart Executives Are Paying Attention to Rural Opportunity Zones
The permanent extension of Opportunity Zones under the 2025 OBBBA creates a rare opening for business leaders to shape where federal investment flows — and rural America may hold the strongest opportunities for long-term strategic growth.
Around the Horn: Data Center Supply Chains — What's Next?
Area Development magazine caught up with its Q2 guest editors, Ford Graham and Steven Pearce from McGuireWoods consulting, to talk about their reporting on data center supply chains. We also invited Ermengarde Jabir Director of Economic Research at Moody’s to join the discussion.
Where MedTech Grows Best
How data, labor, and logistics drive location decisions for next-gen MedTech manufacturing.
Too Much of a Good Thing: Can Overbuilt Spec Development Benefit Manufacturers?
Power supply, infrastructure, and specs often fall short for manufacturers eyeing overbuilt logistics sites.
2025’s Top States for Business: How the Winners Are Outpacing the Rest
Speed, workforce alignment, and energy infrastructure now define the best states for doing business — not just incentives or tax breaks. Our exclusive rankings break down how the top performers are staying ahead in a tightening market.
Supply Chain Whiplash Reshapes CRE
Power, ports, and unpredictability are pushing manufacturers to rethink their entire real estate approach.
How Canada Stays Competitive
As trade tensions mount, Canada’s supply chain reboot aims to retain foreign investment and reduce risk exposure.
Manufacturing’s New Risk Game for Site Selection
Companies face growing challenges as tariffs, political shifts, and trade policies disrupt location strategies.
Optimizing Your Rail-Served Transportation Network: Strategy Before Steel
Infrastructure can power your supply chain—but only when planned with foresight.
Why Cold Storage May Defy the Tariff Crunch
Food related projects remain resilient as tariff pressures shake other sectors of commercial real estate
The Quest for Logistics Supremacy
With supply chain pressures mounting, America’s logistics network is being rebuilt from the ground up and states are competing for the infrastructure edge by investing in ports, air cargo, and cold storage.
Editor's Note: A Higher Bar for Winning Projects
Projects are still advancing—but fewer are clearing internal hurdles. As assumptions around cost, timing, and delivery get tested, only the deals that stand up to full internal scrutiny are moving forward.
First Person: UCB's $2 Billion Bet on Gwinnett County
For Philippe Mantelet, a $2 billion biologics facility represents more than a capital investment. In this interview, he outlines how UCB approaches site selection — balancing speed, infrastructure, talent, and long-term certainty — to make decisions that hold up well beyond the initial buildout.
2026 Outlook: Biomanufacturing Isn’t Slowing — It’s Getting More Selective
What looks like a slowdown in biomanufacturing is better understood as a filter. Demand remains, but companies are moving more carefully — aligning new projects with production needs, regulatory realities, infrastructure capacity, and long-term.
2026 Outlook: The Warehouse Market Isn’t Growing — It’s Sorting Itself
With demand stabilizing, industrial occupiers are shifting from rapid expansion to disciplined execution. The result is fewer speculative projects, more build-to-suit activity, and a growing premium on facilities that deliver efficiency, automation capacity, and reliable access to labor and customers.
The Evolving Landscape of AI Infrastructure
AI is reshaping site strategy. This episode explores compressing “Time to First Token,” power-first location decisions, and the execution discipline executives need as data centers scale, faster than real estate cycles.
Editor's Note: Raising the Bar on Readiness
Contributed Content
Oklahoma’s Competitive Edge: Low Cost, High Performance
A central U.S. location delivering cost stability, logistics reach and industry-focused workforce development.
Contributed Content
Montgomery County, Maryland: A Global Hub for Growth and Innovation
Just outside Washington, D.C., Montgomery County pairs one of the nation’s most educated workforces with federal research assets, transit-connected development, and a deep life sciences cluster poised for its next phase of expansion.
Editor’s Note: Thriving at the Intersection of Change
First Person: Filter King’s Expansion Playbook
CEO Rick Hoskins explains how the fast-growing air filter company selects its sites, scales its labor-heavy operation, and maintains speed-to-customer across multiple U.S. regions.
Editor’s Note: Making Sense of the Shifts
If you’re reading this magazine, you’re likely grappling with questions that don’t have easy answers: Where will the next constraint show up? What will this election cycle do to capital flows? How do you build resilience without losing speed?
Contributed Content
Michigan Resilience: Global Infrastructure and Smart Investments Power Future Supply Chains
Michigan upgrades ports, invests in tech, and links talent to global trade for smarter, resilient supply chains.
Contributed Content
All Roads Lead to Kansas: Logistics and Distribution Thrive at the Center
Location, logistics parks, and workforce are a dominant force in this state’s distribution strategy.
