L.A. port-adjacent industrial leasing jumps as cargo swings west

The Port of Los Angeles nearly moved 1 million container units in July, its second-busiest July on record. With Long Beach, the twin ports are running 1.8 percent ahead of last year's volume. That marks a return to West Coast favor after East Coast ports took more cargo in 2025, according to Commercial Observer.

Trade policy drives that swing and could just as easily reverse it. Commercial Observer's reporting spans the Liberation Day tariffs of April 2025 through the current war with Iran, a period of massive disruptions. Ports are supposed to offer protection from such disruptions, the story notes, but Los Angeles and Long Beach have been exposed to every shift of President Trump's second term.

In June, the port cleared 1 million container units, and July nearly matched that. Executive Director Gene Seroka credited resilient consumer demand: "Businesses continue to move cargo when they see windows of opportunity amid an evolving trade environment, while resilient consumer demand is helping keep imports at historically strong levels."

Leasing followed. In the second quarter of 2026, Los Angeles industrial leasing was the strongest in five years, according to Cushman & Wakefield. Kidder Mathews counted 6.2 million square feet of activity. Marcus & Millichap ties the steadier flow of goods to a more stable market. Gregg Healy, Savills' executive vice president and head of industrial services, described the change to Commercial Observer: "People started saying, I've got to get in there, I've got to get a building now."

Rents have been falling since mid-2023, and vacancy hit 7 percent this year. They remain 25 percent above their level at the start of 2020. That combination — negative near-term growth, elevated vacancy, long-run appreciation — suggests a market steadying rather than collapsing.

Is the leasing spike durable? Healy says shippers are trying to stay ahead of supply and tariff policy, and there may be a golden window now. The result is front-loading: cargo moves early to beat the next policy change. A second-busiest July is exactly what front-loading looks like, meaning some of this year's volume is future demand arriving early. None of that makes the space less valuable. It makes the timing less predictable.

Elsewhere in L.A. County, investment sales rose 28.5 percent in July, led by multifamily, while office kept sliding, according to Private Real Estate Daily. The industrial leasing near the ports is a separate dynamic, tied to trade flows rather than the forces behind multifamily or office.

Allocators should underwrite a range, not a single path. The 25 percent rent growth since 2020 gives existing owners an advantage new buyers lack. Underwriters must assume rent declines can resume and cargo can shift back to the East Coast as it did last year. They also have to price the chance that the window keeps opening, because the same policy shifts that create the risk also create the opportunities.

"Chaos is the new cocaine. I do think we will have more turbulent times ahead," Healy told Commercial Observer. The buildings that have already lived through the chaos are the ones to own, with the next round of disruption priced in.