PA I-78/I-81 Corridor Industrial Figures Q1 2026

One year removed from a first quarter with nearly 2 million square feet (sq. ft.) of occupancy losses, 2026 started off rather strongly, tallying 3.8 million sq. ft. of positive absorption and posting the most significant quarter of vacancy rate decline since mid-2022. And while 2025 was the first year in the PA I-78/I-81 Corridor’s history where distribution/logistics occupancy shrank, Q1 2026’s performance erased the less than 1 million sq. ft. of negative absorption in 2025.

Nearly surpassing the 5 million sq. ft. mark, the 4.8 million sq. ft. of new or expansion leasing activity this quarter was buoyed by the influx of activity from ecommerce activity, that accounted for 1.7 million sq. ft. of leasing in the Hazleton/Schuylkill and Lehigh Valley submarkets. In addition, Monster inked a lease in the Scranton submarket for 749,000 sq. ft. Two of these three leases were in second generation space, notably uncommon in this market.

As demand grew from a variety of industries, vacancy within the big box (750,000 sq. ft. or greater), class A logistics market fell by 220 basis points to 7.1% this quarter. While nearly 7 million sq. ft. of big box class A product is now under construction, CBRE anticipates vacancy within this larger size segment to continue to tighten and outperform the market.