If you build it, they will come. But first you need vacant land to build it on—and according to a new report, Dallas and Fort Worth have that in spades.

With 90,739 acres of vacant land, Dallas led all 20 of the most populous urban centers in the U.S. for having the most vacant land available. That’s according to a report from CommercialCafe, a commercial real estate internet listing service.

Fort Worth followed at No. 2 with 74,835 acres of vacant land. And completing an almost “Texas Triangle sweep,” San Antonio was ranked No. 4 with 48,834 acres and Houston No. 5 with 46,168.

Houston stood out among the cities on the list for adding the most industrial and office space to its inventory with 86.4 million square feet, outranking even New York City in this regard. San Antonio, on the other hand, has focused on warehousing and industrial space development, adding 20.6 million square feet of new space since 2012, the report said.

Only one city outside of Texas cracked the top five—Phoenix was ranked No. 3 on the list with 53,022 acres of vacant land.

Dallas’ has “whopping” vacant acreage despite 40M SF of new office and industrial since 2012

“Dallas led with a whopping 90,739 acres across more than 30,000 parcels with an average size of 2.72 acres,” CommercialCafe says in the report. “Since 2012, the city has added more than 40 million square feet of new office and industrial space to its inventory, spurred by an influx of businesses opting to relocate to Texas in recent years. Residential construction activity was also robust during the same period, with roughly 46,000 units developed throughout Dallas.”

The report notes that this year Dallas “witnessed one of the biggest land sales in its recent history as 460 acres in the Mountain Creek development in southwest Dallas changed hands. The new owners will focus on residential construction in the area, with plans for new homes and apartments.”

Fort Worth’s vacant land pipeline ’tilts heavily toward industrial development’

Of Fort Worth’s 74,835 acres of undeveloped land,  average lot sizes are around the 2.66-acre mark, the report said: “Here, the city’s pipeline tilts heavily toward industrial development. In fact, no less than 51 million square feet of warehousing and manufacturing space were built between 2012 and 2022. And, the trend is set to continue in the near future as Fort Worth has 22 million square feet of new industrial space in the pipeline, either planned or under construction,” the report noted.

                            [Source: PropertyShark & CommercialEdge]

The study also found that industrial construction has been a vital component of all major cities’ pipelines since 2012, with the trend set to continue.

The report analyzed the availability of vacant land and construction activity in 20 of the most populous cities in the country, finding that the average lot size of undeveloped land in these cities is 1.22 acres. Cities across the South and Southwest were found to have tens of thousands of acres of undeveloped lots each.

The issue of urban development and vacant parcels located in central business districts has been the subject of previous studies by CommercialCafe, and this study’s findings serve as a valuable resource for city planners, developers, and investors looking to make the most of available land resources.

You can see the full report by going here.

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