A 495K SF multibuilding development in Orange County's Airport Area will be the largest industrial development in that submarket since 1999. The project, at Dyer Road and Tech Center Drive in Santa Ana, will have buildings ranging from 22K SF to 163K SF, according to JLL.

"Industrial users are requiring increasingly higher functionality from their space than ever before, making many older properties obsolete, such as the one being demolished to make room for this new development," the report notes.

Orange County's industrial market had negative net absorption of 93K SF in Q3 due in large part to Royalty Carpet Mills shutting down and vacating 752K SF in the Airport Area, JLL reports. Positive net absorption in the West and North County submarkets came from Shaw Industries, Primary Colors, Caran Precision, California Hi-Lites and Nutrition Corp. taking space.

Orange County's industrial market has had increases in rental rates and sales prices, driven by the lack of inventory. In many cases, bidding wars have driven up prices and investors are coming into the market that are willing to pay more than owner-occupiers.

Average asking rent is $0.81/SF. Average sale prices are expected to stay above historical peaks, with more buildings attracting prices of more than $200/SF, according to the report.