Megawarehouse Boom

A warehouse boom is spanning the U.S., as historically rural regions near urban areas are being populated by warehouse development and expansion. Megawarehouses of more than one million square feet in particular are experiencing growth, as the first half of 2024 saw a 35 percent increase in the number of megawarehouse leases over the previous year.

From California to Pennsylvania, warehousing is reshaping the physical and economic landscapes, with employment in the sector tripling between 1990 and 2019 and growing an additional 47 percent to its peak in early 2022. In New York State, 25 percent of the population now resides within a half-mile of a megawarehouse. This trend is posing public health concerns, as air pollution at these sites, so concentrated that it can be tracked by satellites, is causing respiratory issues, such as asthma. Planners should consider the impacts of megawarehouses and e-commerce hubs on communities should their expansion continues.