After years of pandemic shortages, tariff whiplash and a fresh spike in fuel prices in 2026, supply chains are acting less like smooth highways and more like obstacle courses. That reality is forcing companies to rethink where they stash inventory and what kind of buildings they are willing to bet on. Tenants and landlords alike are putting a premium on properties that keep goods moving even when a route, port or key supplier suddenly goes sideways, turning “durability” from a niche perk into a full-fledged selling point.
That shift landed in the spotlight in a May 1 story in the San Antonio Business Journal, which highlighted research showing that both occupiers and investors are reordering their wish lists around resilience and redundancy. The local angle cast the trend as part of a much broader national rethink about how much risk companies are willing to tolerate in far-flung supply chains.
Why "durable" real estate is winning
Newmark Research breaks down the math driving the move. For many logistics operators, transportation is the single biggest line item on the expense sheet, and fuel alone can eat up roughly one-third of that bill. That means every fuel spike or freight disruption hits the profit-and-loss statement quickly and can trigger a fast response in how networks are configured. According to Newmark, markets and buildings that offer multiple transportation modes, strong local demand and the power and workforce to support automation are likely to see the most “durable” demand over time, reshaping where firms put their facilities. The firm notes that recent shocks have already sped up reshoring, nearshoring and consolidation into newer, more modern buildings, altering long-term leasing decisions in the process.
What occupiers and developers are paying for
On the ground, tenants are zeroing in on buildings that are ready for the next wave of tech and fleet changes. That means layouts that can support automation, higher clear heights, larger truck courts and significantly more electrical capacity, so properties can handle robotics, electric trucks and even bits of onsite manufacturing. Fresh U.S. industrial data from Cushman & Wakefield shows that newer, higher-spec space outperformed older product in both leasing and absorption last year, even as speculative development cooled and build-to-suit projects picked up. That widening performance gap is nudging owners toward redevelopment and retrofits in infill corridors, where last-mile speed and flexibility can make or break a deal.
Investors are back - but selective
Institutional money is flowing back into industrial real estate, but buyers are not in the mood for fixer-uppers. Portfolios and single assets with modern specs, solid tenants and access to multiple transportation options are drawing the fiercest bidding. Recent deal activity tracked by CoStar shows large investors concentrating on infill, gateway and port-adjacent locations where leasing appears more durable and pricing has started to rebound. The flip side is less rosy for older, low-power buildings, where owners may face longer marketing timelines or be pushed toward value-add strategies to stay in the game.
What this means for San Antonio
For San Antonio, the national swing toward durability amounts to a playbook. Sites and existing buildings that can be upgraded with more power, smoother trailer circulation or better highway and rail connectivity are set up to compete for tenants that are willing to pay extra for resilience. The San Antonio Business Journal cast the Newmark findings as a local market watch item, noting that brokers and developers are quietly sorting their portfolios into properties that can be retrofitted and those that might be better off recycled into other uses. That sorting process is likely to influence leasing strategies, repositioning plans and ground-up projects across the metro.
Bottom line: in 2026, function is beating raw square footage on the priority list, and landlords who invest to make their space operationally resilient may find both tenants and capital willing to pay for that kind of built-in insurance at a time when the next shock never seems far away.
