Global supply-chain reconfiguration isn’t theoretical anymore, it’s a capital allocation driver.
Companies continue to announce reshoring and foreign direct investment (FDI) projects at meaningful scale. According to the Reshoring Initiative 2024 Annual Report, 244,000 reshoring and FDI jobs were announced last year, continuing a multi-year trend toward bringing manufacturing and supply-chain work back to North America (Reshoring Initiative, 2024).
For advisors, that movement matters because it changes the where and what of real-estate demand: not just in major logistics hubs, but across a set of specialized property types that stand to benefit from renewed on-shore manufacturing and regionalization.
Below are the real-estate sectors we think advisors (and your clients) should watch closely.
Reshoring translates directly into more demand for industrial square footage: factory floors, component warehousing, light-assembly parks, and distribution nodes. Occupier demand is increasingly tied to manufacturing and adjacent users, not just e-commerce. Markets that can host both production and distribution are seeing outsized interest.
For example, JLL projects that manufacturing-related demand will account for a substantial share of industrial requirements in the next several years, a trend that may bolster demand for big-box and mid-box industrial products, as well as specialized manufacturing warehouses (JLL, 2025).
Real estate markets in the Midwest and Southeast are particularly relevant. CBRE reported robust leasing activity in the Midwest in 2025, including 33.2 million sq. ft. in Q2 alone, and also noted that vacancy pressures have been rebalancing from deliveries and new leasing. This could be a sign that manufacturing demand is absorbing space in markets that traditionally host industrial supply chains.
Advisor Consideration: As an advisor, you may want to talk to your clients about targeting industrial exposures in regions with strong labor pools, transport infrastructure, and incentive frameworks.
Reshoring can reduce international lead times and increase the availability of nimble, domestic distribution. That amplifies demand for last-mile nodes, especially smaller urban and suburban logistics properties located near consumption centers and manufacturing clusters. These assets often trade at premiums because they enable just-in-time fulfillment with shorter domestic supply lines.
Advisor Consideration: Advisors may want to consider exposure to last-mile funds or industrial DSTs that include urban logistics assets as part of an allocation designed to capture both e-commerce and domestic manufacturing fulfillment flows (CBRE, 2025).
Not all industrial space is interchangeable. Reshoring initiatives increasingly favor advanced manufacturing such as semiconductor assembly, complex components, and precision food processing, which requires specialized power, clean-room capability, higher clear heights and generous expansion zones.
These specialized industrial properties also require a different underwriting lens with longer leases and higher capex, but they may offer stronger tenant stickiness in return.
Advisor Consideration: For advisors, private real estate vehicles and DSTs that target or co-invest in advanced-manufacturing campuses can provide exposure to an asset type that benefits from strategic corporate investment and public incentives (McKinsey & Company, 2023).
On the surface, data centers don’t scream “reshoring.” However, factors like the regionalization of supply chains, the growth of on-shore manufacturing automation, and the need for low-latency operations are driving demand for edge computing and private data-adjacent infrastructure near manufacturing clusters.
Additionally, semiconductor and high-performance compute expansion often pairs with specialized facilities and real-estate requirements (power, cooling, security).
Advisor Consideration: Allocations to data-adjacent real estate, either directly or via diversified alternative funds, can act as a hedge to industrial exposure while participating in the tech-infrastructure buildout that supports modern reshoring (Deloitte, 2025).
Food security and shorter supply chains have steered investment towards cold-chain capacity and regional processing centers, especially where reshoring supports domestic food manufacturing or packaging. Cold storage is capital-intensive, operationally specialized, and frequently under-supplied relative to demand.
Advisor Consideration: For clients seeking income and defensive characteristics, selective exposure here via private vehicles or targeted funds may be attractive. Consider sponsors with operations expertise; the wrong operator in cold storage is a material business risk.
Overall, the big picture supports the argument that reshoring is more than a headline: McKinsey and other supply-chain studies show a durable move toward regionalization, with firms easing up their dependence on distant suppliers (McKinsey & Company, 2023).
National manufacturing employment, which remains sizable in the roughly low-to-mid-millions depending on the time window, can provide the labor base for on-shore expansion. These structural trends mean the shift in real-estate demand is likely to play out over years, not quarters, giving advisors time to implement measured allocations.
Ultimately, reshoring is changing how and where real estate demand will form over the next decade. For advisors who want to leverage that trend, the opportunity isn’t a single sector bet, but a disciplined reallocation across industrial, last-mile, specialized manufacturing facilities, and select infrastructure sectors.
With careful sponsor selection and a mix of public and private exposure, including DSTs where appropriate, you can position client portfolios to capture both the income and structural growth that reshoring is creating.
Sources
NAM / BLS data — Manufacturing employment and sector context. NAM