Things continue to look up for the Dallas-Fort Worth industrial market. 

Following a strong first quarter, Q2 brought low vacancy, steady rents and continued demand with a slowing supply. All of this, paired with deals from major tenants including Amazon, DHL and Black Mountain, suggests that now is an excellent time for industrial developers and tenants alike in the DFW market. 

“DFW has everything — location, population, infrastructure — and none of that is going away anytime soon,” said Mark Cone, vice president of architecture at LGE Design Build, a design-build firm with offices in Texas, Arizona and Florida. “That’s why companies keep bringing their operations here, and why industrial continues to perform.” 

Cone will be offering his insights at Bisnow's 2026 DFW Industrial Summit on Nov. 16-17 at the Hilton Dallas Lincoln Centre. Register here for the event.

Cone walked Bisnow through some of the drivers behind DFW’s industrial growth and what tenants are looking for in today’s market. 

Bisnow: The DFW industrial market is strong, with positive absorption and increased demand. What do you think is driving these trends, and will they continue? 

Cone: Location and infrastructure are the foundation, but what keeps DFW strong is the range of users coming into the market. We’re seeing logistics, advanced manufacturing, data centers and the facilities that support them, and local businesses growing into buildings of their own. That mix means DFW isn’t relying on any one sector. 

Supply is being absorbed, and new projects are breaking ground, so the market will find its level, but we’re optimistic, especially about new construction. Tenants are increasingly choosing quality over quantity, and that favors new buildings designed around how tenants actually operate. 


Bisnow: Can you tell me a bit about what LGE Design Build has planned for the DFW industrial market? What projects are the team working on, or what is coming down the pipeline? 

Cone: Because we’re a design-build firm, our architects and builders work side by side across a wide range of project types — industrial, hospitality, restaurants and office. Our clients get one team that owns the outcome, from the first sketch to the certificate of occupancy. In DFW right now, we have a small office project and two large industrial projects underway, with several more in design.


Bisnow: You're speaking on a panel titled Design, Development and Deadlines: How Development Teams are Staying Ahead of Permitting, Cost and Labor Challenges. What are some of the challenges teams are facing right now? 

Cone: The biggest one right now is code. Cities across DFW are at different points in adopting the 2024 International Building Code and its companion codes, and each one is adopting and amending them differently. Energy requirements under the International Energy Conservation Code are a good example: Some cities are taking them as written, some are amending them, and some are holding off. A building that is permitted in one city may have different requirements in the next city over. 

So, we do that homework up front, before plans are ever submitted. We meet early with fire marshals, building officials and city engineering staff so we know exactly how each jurisdiction is reading the code. Teams that wait until plan review to get those answers end up paying for it in redesign and lost schedule. 

Code strategy drives site and building design. In design-build, our architects and our builders are at the same table from Day 1, so we can lock in the big decisions — site layout, structure, fire protection — with real pricing and constructability input behind them and then build everything else around those choices. That’s how you protect the schedule.


Bisnow: What are industrial tenants looking for in the DFW market, and how can developers build for it? 

Cone: Tenants are more sophisticated than ever, and they want a well-designed, flexible building that can serve more than one kind of user. A building that only works for one use is a risk. We work with our clients to plan layouts and power capacity that can support a wide range of tenants, including data center users. That means locating electrical rooms and equipment so they’re easy to access and expand, and bringing utility consultants in early so the power is there on Day 1 with room to grow.

Design quality still matters, especially when a company is moving its offices into the same facility as its operations. The building must work for the people inside it, and it must be a good neighbor to the community around it.


Bisnow: What do you hope the main takeaway will be from this event? 

Cone: When design and construction work together from the start, decisions get made early, with real cost information behind them, and every phase that follows moves faster. In a strong market, with a lot of buildings to choose from, the ones that are designed well and are the most flexible are the ones that are going to win. Good design, accurate pricing and quality construction, delivered on time and on budget, all start with having the designer and the builder on the same team from Day 1. That’s how we work at LGE: Design and construction are one team from Day 1, so one group is accountable for the outcome.

This article was produced in collaboration between LGE Design Build and Studio B. Bisnow news staff was not involved in the production of this content.

Studio B is Bisnow’s in-house content and design studio. To learn more about how Studio B can help your team, reach out to studio@bisnow.com.