While 2009 saw more than 900,000 square feet of industrial space go empty, several high-profile leases and sales transpired in the Dayton market.

Real estate brokers said the first three quarters of 2009 were some of the slowest ever for local industrial space, which includes warehouses and manufacturing facilities. But they are hoping an uptick that started in late fall and this past winter grows throughout 2010.

One of the largest lease deals of 2009 helped re-fill some recently vacated space. McQuay International signed a five-year lease in August for 160,000 square feet of space in the former Rex Stores Corp. warehouse on Needmore Road. Mark Dlott, vice president and principal with the Dayton office of Colliers Turley Martin Tucker, represented the owner, Rex Radio and Television Inc.

When Rex decided to leave the consumer electronics business, it had no need for the 475,000-square-foot warehouse. But the building has 24-foot clear ceiling heights, making it one of the most attractive buildings in the market. While Minneapolis-based McQuay is vacating 148,000 square feet of space between two other locations, there was still a net absorption of 12,000 square feet.

Not every deal was just a relocation, as some businesses expanded their operations and space in 2009.

Greenville Technologies Inc. leased an additional 26,000 square feet of space in a 360,000-square-foot bulk warehouse in Greenville last July. The company, which supplies automotive parts, already has 400,000 square feet of space nearby, but needed the warehousing space to handle additional work.

Tim Echemann, owner/broker of Industrial Property Brokers, brokered the deal.

There were several notable industrial sales in 2009 as well, resulting in space filling up.

Kova of Ohio, part of Greensburg, Ind.-based Kova Fertilizer Inc., purchased a 51,000-square-foot building in Springfield last October to house its Ohio operations.

The real name of the game in the Dayton area has been build-to-suit, or new construction for businesses that will lease the new space. A number of projects have been announced or recently started, so they held no bearing on latest survey, but they will improve the region’s vacancy rate.

Some of the biggest build-to-suit deals in the works include:

• Caterpillar Logistics Services building a 1 million-plus square-foot distribution center in Clayton;
• Dayton Superior relocating to a $5.6 million, 72,000-square-foot building in Byers Business Park in spring of 2010; and
• Crown Solutions expanding into a 70,000-square-foot building at 913 Industrial Park Drive in Vandalia in early 2011.

Dlott said he and his fellow brokers are taking more calls and working on more deals than they have in the past few years.

“Everybody is pretty busy, the question is are we going to be able to finish the deals,” Dlott said.