Our latest report, the Industrial U.S. Seaport Outlook, presents an engaging, visual representation of the key facts about the major seaports and perspective on the trends impacting these ports and the surrounding industrial real estate markets. Learn more about one of these seaports: the Port of Oakland.

“The Port of Oakland is the fifth-busiest container port in the United States. Serving one of the nation’s largest metropolitan areas, the port loads and discharges more than 99% of containerized goods moving through Northern California. The port generates more than 73,000 jobs across the region and also serves as an ideal location for logistics and industrial distribution. Surrounded by one of the world’s wealthiest regions and a population base of 10 million e-commerce consumers, the Port of Oakland enables major institutional landlords and occupiers to capitalize on the growing e-commerce industry.” — Greig Lagomarsino, SIOR, Executive Vice President | Oakland, CA

CAPABILITIES:

Seven container terminals serve the Oakland waterfront. All shipping channels and 90% of the berths at the port are dredged to 50 feet to make them capable of accommodating vessels with capacity of up to 13,000 TEUs. The port has a total of 34 cranes, 27 of which are capable of handling Post-Panamax vessels.

Few ports have available real estate to house distribution and transloading activities inside their gates. But Oakland has a unique opportunity planned in the coming decade with the redevelopment of the former Oakland Army Base into a 360-acre hub for import warehouses and transloading facilities.

TRADE:

Agricultural export tonnage has grown 233% at the Port of Oakland in the past five years. The result has transformed the port’s trade profile, making Oakland a leading gateway to Asia — especially for California growers.

The Port of Oakland reported a 10.4% increase in export trade volume in 2016. Overall, 51.7% of total loaded container volume handled at the port in 2016 was from exports — the highest for a major port in the U.S. Top trading partners include China/Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and Australia. The top imports include beverages and spirits, furniture, glassware, electrical machinery and plastics. Top exports include edible fruits and nuts, beverages and spirits, wood pulp, meats and cereals.

INTERMODAL:

Two Class I rail providers service the Port of Oakland. Union Pacific and BNSF railroad facilities are located adjacent to the heart of the marine terminal area to provide reliable and efficient movement of cargo between the terminals or transload facilities and the intermodal rail facilities.

REAL ESTATE IMPACT:

While Oakland remains the top beneficiary of the port, the Port of Oakland is a top demand driver for all East Bay and Central Valley industrial markets. At the end of Q1 2017, Oakland posted one of the lowest industrial vacancy rates in the country at 1.9%. Oakland also has one of the highest industrial asking rents in the country, finishing Q1 at $11.40 per square foot per year.

Despite some new industrial development, especially in or surrounding the port, Oakland is still an infill market. Because of this, other markets further east are ramping up big-box development. One of those markets is Stockton/San Joaquin County, where nearly 4 million square feet of speculative development was under construction at the end of 2016. With record-low vacancies in the East Bay, Northern California’s Central Valley and particularly Stockton/San Joaquin Valley are expected to see continued demand and development activity for the foreseeable future.

To learn more, explore the Industrial U.S. Seaport Outlook.

Also: Get a sneak peek of the insights into Port of Long Beach | Port of Los Angeles | Port of New York and New Jersey