Defense, pharma and tech sectors drive Huntsville’s industrial demand as Greenbrier leads new construction
Huntsville’s industrial market is tightening, and the demand increasingly comes from manufacturers rather than warehouse users. Most of the new space is rising in Greenbrier, while the established Jetplex Industrial Park absorbs defense and space production.
Vacancy fell to just below 10% in 2025, down from 11.98% a year earlier, according to the 2026 Graham Report from Graham & Co.
Greenbrier, the city’s newest industrial area, still carries the most empty space. Graham & Co. managing broker Bart Smith said the submarket “has been overbuilt but should recover.”
Its vacancy rate dropped to 15.07% from 20%, but about 1.6 million square feet of new Class A warehouse space remains available for lease.
Developers are still betting on the corridor. Pattillo Industrial Real Estate is building the 262,880-square-foot Greenbrier Commerce Center on Coretta Drive, near Amazon’s HSV1 fulfillment center, with an August 2027 target opening.
Tripp Alexander, a partner at Colliers | Alabama, which is leasing the project, said it offers “modern building specifications, flexibility and connectivity.” The site is next to rail and close to the Port of Huntsville.
The anchor demand is coming from large manufacturers. Eli Lilly plans a $6 billion pharmaceutical plant at Greenbrier South that is expected to create 450 jobs, with construction slated to begin this year.
SPX Enterprises is developing a $118 million, 460,000-square-foot facility west of County Line Road in Greenbrier to build cooling and air-handling equipment for data centers. The company expects to hire 350 workers.
Mayor Tommy Battle said investments like these are “fueling Huntsville’s economy.” The city approved up to $250,000 in incentives for SPX, tied to hiring and wage benchmarks through 2029.
At Jetplex Industrial Park, defense and space companies are the draw. The 1,470-acre park holds more than 13 million square feet, about 35% of the market, and its vacancy rate rose to 9.62% from 7.42% even as leasing stayed healthy.
Redwire is adding a 164,000-square-foot manufacturing facility at Jetplex that is expected to bring 150 jobs. Co-president Josh Brungardt said the building provides “greater capacity to move with agility.”
Proximity matters to the company. Brungardt said Redwire wants to stay close to key customers such as Blue Origin and to Marshall Space Flight Center.
Blue Origin, for its part, is investing $71.4 million to expand in Cummings Research Park and Jetplex, establishing Huntsville as its home for thruster production. The city says that will create 105 jobs.
L3Harris added 130,000 square feet at its Advanced Manufacturing Facility-South with a $25 million investment, growing its local footprint to roughly 670,000 square feet across three sites. The company said the expansion gives it “the flexibility we need to grow quickly.”
Chase Industrial Park, by contrast, is nearly full. Its vacancy rate was 1.38% in 2025, and only 50 of its 2,700 acres remain available for development.
The park is almost exclusively single-tenant employers, including PPG Industries, Hart & Cooley and Kommerling.
The North/Central submarket, 18% of the market, saw vacancy fall to 8.87% from 11.85%. Recent additions include Blue Origin, Facebook, Aerojet and Toyota.
Looking ahead, the Graham Report expects Jetplex and Greenbrier to keep drawing speculative development because of their highway, rail and intermodal access. The report also says the Space Command move to Redstone Arsenal will be felt across commercial real estate, with most forecasts pointing to about 5,000 new jobs.
