Meor, a major developer based in Mexico City, is in search of a U.S. equity partner to build a $1.7B development near the Mexico-U.S. border, Green Street's Real Estate Alert reports.

The developer tapped Cushman & Wakefield to help it find a partner with an initial equity investment of $300M to facilitate about 18.3M SF of projects. Meor plans to build first in Tijuana and Monterrey, Mexico, where industrial space is almost entirely leased. Later, Meor will develop industrial in Juarez and other markets, according to Green Street.

U.S. companies, in an effort to shorten their supply chains after the disruptions associated with the pandemic and recent geopolitical events and worried about future problems, are seeking industrial space closer to home. Places in both Mexico and the U.S. near the border are particularly popular.

Industrial real estate companies, such as Meor and Prologis, want to capitalize on the activity. Record-high industrial demand in Mexico will continue this year even as nearshored manufacturing capacity comes online, according to Prologis.

Industrial vacancy rates are below 2% in Mexico and will remain tight throughout 2024, the company predicts.

Meanwhile, some U.S. cities are growing weary of industrial development, with more municipalities considering moratoriums or outright bans on warehouses and logistics properties in certain areas, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Cities in the industrial-heavy Inland Empire of Southern California started pushing back on industrial development as pandemic-driven e-commerce motivated developers to build millions of square feet of new warehouses.

Now, cities like Reno, Nevada, and Glenview and Deerfield, Illinois, are in the midst of a NIMBY movement for industrial property, according to the WSJ.