Minneapolis Warehouse Space: Twin Cities Manufacturing and Industrial Real Estate Trends
Nick Trevena serves as senior vice president and market officer for Link Logistics in Minneapolis, where he oversees warehouse and industrial properties across the Twin Cities. Link Logistics is the largest industrial landlord in Minneapolis, with approximately 13 million square feet of warehouse space, and Nick helps businesses navigate a market characterized by low vacancy and limited new construction. Link Logistics’ Minneapolis portfolio supports the region's diverse industrial base, from small-bay manufacturers and medical device companies to last-mile distribution operations serving the local population. In this Q&A, Nick discusses Minneapolis warehouse space for lease—what drives demand in the Twin Cities, emerging supply constraints and why the region's skilled workforce continues to attract manufacturing operations.
What drives demand for industrial real estate in Minneapolis?
Nick: Right now, the low vacancy rate is a major factor. Vacancy is hovering around 4%, which is one of the lowest rates in the country. There are currently limited options depending on your preferred location and size requirement, which creates consistent competition for quality space. The Twin Cities has always had a large manufacturing cluster, and that continues to drive demand as well. In the most recent market data, 30 of the top 100 industrial deals were for manufacturing uses.
What types of businesses lease warehouse space in Minneapolis?
Nick: We have a very diverse tenant industry base and we're not reliant on one industry, which creates stability and resilience in our market. Manufacturing is number one. Agriculture, food and beverage-related uses and building products are significant, too.
Medical device manufacturing is another major sector. Minneapolis is known as Medical Alley, with major companies including Medtronic, Boston Scientific, Mayo Clinic and 3M. The region also has a strong entrepreneurial ecosystem—many employees spin off from those large healthcare companies and create their own medical device startups.
I don't believe any other market in the country has this large of a medical device manufacturing cluster. We even have clinics in our Link Logistics spaces, surgery centers in some of our buildings and dialysis tenants as well. That's pretty unique to Minneapolis.
How does Minneapolis function as a distribution market?
Nick: We're not a traditional distribution market. Unlike central U.S. markets such as Dallas and Indianapolis that serve as through-distribution hubs, Minneapolis is kind of the end of the line in the hub-and-spoke model. It's mostly last-mile distribution here—goods come to Minneapolis and then go to local rooftops and consumers. We're serving the local Twin Cities population, with some distribution extending to western Wisconsin and the Dakotas. Minneapolis warehouse space primarily serves that local and regional consumption rather than broader national distribution.
What emerging trends should businesses know about in Minneapolis?
Nick: The biggest trend is the lack of infill industrial real estate and small-bay product. Minneapolis is a small-bay market, but with our low vacancy rate, if you need 30,000 square feet or below, your options are pretty limited. Businesses that need warehouse space for lease in that size range should probably act sooner rather than later because availability is constrained.
Our retention in that small-bay segment is very high because new construction isn't an option for most of those smaller tenants. Almost all the new construction happening is bulk distribution buildings. If you need 20,000 square feet, it’s hard to find new construction—you probably have to find existing space, and there's just not much available in infill locations.
The small-bay users include small manufacturers, assembly operations, and regional and last-mile distribution. For example, we have Amazon in a 35,000-square-foot space focused on faster, same-day distribution. You also see healthcare system operations, medical device companies, and various specialized businesses occupying these smaller spaces.
How are industrial developers addressing land constraints in the Minneapolis market?
Nick: There's an interesting redevelopment trend happening due to a lack of available land to develop within the Twin Cities. Local developers are now starting to purchase infill commercial buildings that are functionally obsolete—often older office buildings—demolishing them and then converting the sites to industrial use, typically as build-to-suit projects. Once they demolish the building, they'll find a user that wants that site and build a facility specifically for them, converting the use from office to industrial distribution or manufacturing.
Any building within the I-494/I-694 loop—which is what we consider infill in Minneapolis—commands more demand than properties in the outer tertiary submarkets. This office-to-industrial conversion trend reflects just how constrained developable land has become in desirable locations.
How does Link Logistics support companies looking for warehouse space in Minneapolis?
Nick: Given our scale in Minneapolis—we're the largest landlord in the market with about 13 million square feet—we're able to work flexibly with tenants within our portfolio. If they need a larger space, we can expand them and move them to larger facilities. If they need to downsize to a smaller space, we can accommodate that as well. We also have spaces in every submarket in the Twin Cities, so we consistently have industrial space for rent available across the metro area. We have a strong local team, especially our construction group, that can help work with our tenants to configure space to truly meet their warehousing needs.
Looking ahead, what opportunities do you see for businesses considering Minneapolis?
Nick: Minneapolis offers a deep, diverse labor pool that's particularly attractive. It's a well-educated, highly skilled workforce, especially as it relates to manufacturing. The manufacturing cluster here means the schools cater to that industry—you have young people coming out of school with highly skilled manufacturing degrees that you don't see in many other areas of the country.
Even for general warehouse workers, we have a strong labor pool. Unemployment has always been fairly low in Minneapolis and continues to be one of the lowest in the country. Workforce participation rates are high in the Twin Cities.
With limited new construction and constrained supply, businesses that secure quality space now—particularly in infill locations—are positioning themselves well. The medical device manufacturing ecosystem, diverse industrial base and skilled workforce create a stable foundation that's hard to replicate in other markets.
Explore available warehouse and distribution space in Minneapolis to learn more about industrial real estate opportunities in the Twin Cities.
