Trillions and Trillions – March 9, 2026
Recent investment announcements for manufacturing facilities are having a positive impact on states and markets nationwide, says Avison Young
The jobs figures issued Friday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics were disappointing all around, and manufacturing was among the sectors taking it on the chin. Nonetheless, the long-term trend for manufacturing is positive, at least from an investment standpoint.
It’s a point that Avison Young highlights in announcing its new interactive dashboard, U.S. Manufacturing Investment Tracker. Tracking announced manufacturing investments in the U.S. of $100 million or more, the dashboard provides weekly insights into where manufacturing capital is flowing across the country and how these trends are shaping industrial real estate and site-selection strategies nationwide.
A headnote on the dashboard sets the stage. “U.S. manufacturing is undergoing a historic capital investment cycle driven by federal incentives, reshoring, and long-term supply chain realignment. Investment is concentrated in high-growth sectors, including semiconductors, pharmaceutical manufacturing, rare earth processing, magnet production, battery manufacturing, aerospace, and food processing, with direct implications for industrial real estate, labor markets, logistics networks, and power infrastructure.
“While many primary markets continue to attract capital and serve as manufacturing hotbeds, recent investment announcements are having a positive impact on states and markets across the country, with many large-scale projects breaking ground in secondary and tertiary markets.”
The dashboard records nearly $3.4 trillion of announced U.S. manufacturing investments since Jan. 21, 2025—the retroactive start date for Qualified Production Property-eligible projects under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act of 2025. If you have followed Connect CRE’s daily coverage over that time, then it will come as little surprise to read that nearly two-thirds of that total was amassed in the computer and electronic product manufacturing segment, or that the state topping the list of investment magnets was Arizona.
Call it the TSMC effect: the commitments by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp. begot commitments from other manufacturers and suppliers. Not incidentally, this level of investment has also spurred residential and retail development in Greater Phoenix.
Although Arizona may lead with more $500 billion of announced manufacturing investments, it’s hardly the only state to benefit from the enormous outlays of manufacturing capital. The tracker currently lists 114 projects, with 42 states impacted.
“Nearly every U.S. market will experience direct or indirect impacts from these projects and that demands a data-driven view of what’s ahead.” said Peter Kroner, director, U.S. Industrial, Market Intelligence at Avison Young. “By consolidating these projects into a single platform, the tracker provides a clear, technology-powered picture of how capital flows are impacting supply chains and industrial demand.”
At a market level, Avison Young recently reported on the impact of advanced manufacturing on Houston’s industrial sector. One result is that the vacancy rate for the metro area’s manufacturing-related real estate has dropped to 2.9%.
The firm’s Carol JeanLouis wrote that Houston’s Northwest and North submarkets led 2025 activity “with more than 2.2 [million square feet] of crane‑served leasing, highlighted by ProEnergy’s 458k-square-foot warehouse‑to‑production conversion equipped with 30 cranes. Additional commitments from Electro‑Tech (293k square feet) and MD&A (122k square feet) reinforce the region’s shift toward power‑dense, production‑oriented uses. The Southeast remains the tightest corridor due to Port‑driven fabrication needs, underscored by Mill Steel’s 218k-square-foot heavy manufacturing lease with 250‑ton crane capacity.”
JeanLouis noted that this demand represents a strategic opportunity for building new or retrofitting legacy assets using the OBBBA to capture 100% immediate expensing for production facilities. That’s useful advice. The resulting project may be smaller in scale than the U.S. Manufacturing Investment Tracker would count, but the TSMCs of the world aren’t the only industrial occupiers out there.