Warehouse rents wrapped around John F. Kennedy International Airport have officially broken the $30-per-square-foot barrier, squeezing caterers, freight handlers and airport support outfits that prize being minutes from the runway over anything else. The surge is already reshaping leasing strategies in southeast Queens and nearby Nassau County as cargo volumes climb and airport construction ramps up.
Industrial tenants inked almost 770,000 square feet of deals in the JFK-adjacent submarkets in 2025, a 63.4% year-over-year jump, and triple-net asking rents hit $30.08 per square foot by year-end, according to a Q4 report from Cushman & Wakefield. The same data pegs vacancy in the immediate JFK submarket at roughly 6.4%, leaving a very short list of modern spaces that sit a quick turn from the tarmac.
Citywide deliveries have not loosened the crunch
The shortage is highly localized. Roughly 4.1 million square feet of industrial space has been completed across New York City since early 2024, and much of that remains unleased at year-end, according to Colliers. That odd combination of plenty of new product on paper but very little usable inventory right next to JFK is a big reason landlords near the airport are holding firm on premium rents.
Port Authority expansion helps fuel the rush
The Port Authority’s JFK overhaul includes a new consolidated cargo handling center of roughly 350,000 square feet that opened in April 2025, part of a broader $19 billion package of terminal and airfield upgrades, according to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. The airport’s rising cargo throughput, and its place among the busiest cargo hubs in the country, shows up clearly in federal freight rankings from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, which helps explain why tenants are willing to shell out to be close.
Who is grabbing space and where they are landing
Recent deals underline how aviation-linked tenants are stepping up to pay. Aviation services firm ASAK Solutions took about 17,000 square feet in South Jamaica at reported rents near $28 per square foot, while airline caterer Gate Gourmet signed for roughly 63,000 square feet at Onyx’s Inwood Logistics Center, according to Commercial Observer and transaction trackers. CenterPoint’s two-story, 129,000-square-foot build-to-suit at 65 Rason Road, now occupied by FedEx, shows why newer product that practically hugs the airfield trades at a premium, as reported by Long Island Business News.
What it all means for local businesses
For companies that do not truly need to be at the gate, the ripple effects are already clear. Listings in East New York and other farther-flung Brooklyn pockets are getting a second look as alternatives, with a mix of blocks on the market through platforms like LoopNet. “These properties are in an irreplaceable location,” Seagis leasing vice president Jane Finkenstaedt told Bisnow, a line that neatly sums up why institutional landlords and major occupiers are still lining up, checkbooks in hand, for the limited supply hugging JFK.
