ULI MEMBER–ONLY CONTENT: The dramatic increase in online shopping in the United States has only further increased the appetite for properties close to population centers.

Global growth in e-commerce spurred by the coronavirus pandemic is boosting investor interest in a “new economy” asset class dominated by data centers and logistics facilities, speakers said in early September at a session during the ULI Asia Pacific REImagine conference.

A recent ULI Europe webinar looked at the “new normal” for urban logistics including the possibilities of drone delivery and how a downturn and changes in regulation could free up more locations in central business districts.

The Punggol Digital District, set to launch in 2023, will form a fresh nexus between higher education and industrial innovation, with its two anchor institutions being the Singapore Institute of Technology and a new business park developed by JTC Corporation, an industrial property developer and manager.

Developers are under more pressure than ever to include features in their buildings that are good for the environment, good for their workers, and good for the surrounding community, said experts speaking at the ULI Fall Meeting.

Demand from growing cloud-computing providers has set the U.S. data center market on pace to break 2017’s record leasing activity, according to CBRE’s latest U.S. Data Center Trends Report. Northern Virginia and Phoenix are also seeing significant new construction to meet demand.

Prime logistics rents increased globally during the 12 months ended March 31, accelerating their growth in many markets due to strengthening economies around the world and greater demand for distribution of goods bought both online and in stores, according to a report from CBRE. Prime rrents increased by 3.2 percent across the globe in this year’s first quarter from a year earlier, exceeding the previous 12-month period’s 2.2 percent global increase.

The growing popularity of online grocery shopping could result in demand for up to 35 million square feet (3.25 million sq m) of U.S. cold-storage space shifting from retail stores to warehouses and distribution centers within the next seven years, according to a report from CBRE.

With e-commerce players remaking the retail sector, industrial real estate developers are hustling to provide the infrastructure needed to get packages to doorsteps in hours instead of days.

Driven by an e-commerce boom, industrial real estate is in the midst of a golden age that shows no signs of waning, despite lingering concerns about the long-term health of traditional retailers, a group of industrial property managers said during a panel discussion at the 2017 Fall Meeting in Los Angeles.