Here’s the deal: Companies are bringing manufacturing back to the U.S.—and it’s not temporary. This is creating serious opportunities in markets you’ve probably never thought about. Places where land is cheap, infrastructure is being built out, and institutional money hasn’t shown up yet.

You’ve got maybe 18-24 months before the big players figure this out and land prices explode.

Last year alone, 244,000 manufacturing jobs came back to the U.S. That’s part of 2.5 million jobs that have returned since 2010. And in early 2025? Companies are citing tariffs as a reason to move production domestically 454% more than they did last year.

This isn’t about politics or feel-good “Made in America” marketing. It’s pure economics.

When companies just look at labor costs, China wins almost every time—the U.S. only wins about 8% of those decisions. But when they factor in everything—shipping delays, tariff costs, the risk of another supply chain meltdown, inventory sitting on boats for weeks—the U.S. suddenly wins 32% of the time.

That’s a huge shift. And it’s permanent.

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Here’s what I keep telling people: this isn’t happening in the usual industrial hotspots.

The Inland Empire? Northern New Jersey? Those markets are tapped out. Land is crazy expensive, and there’s no room for the kind of massive facilities these companies need. We’re talking about semiconductor plants and battery factories that need hundreds of acres with serious power and water infrastructure.

You can’t squeeze that into a 40-acre site in an already-packed market.

So where’s it going? The Midwest and the South.

And the price difference is wild. I’m seeing industrial land in secondary markets going for 10 to 20 times less than the big-name markets. I’ve personally watched land go from $15K per acre to $150K per acre in a year and a half—just because the right infrastructure got announced.

That’s not luck. That’s knowing where to look before everyone else does.

Want to know the secret? Stop waiting for company press releases. By the time Tesla or Intel announces a new plant, you’re already late.

Instead, watch what the utility companies are doing.

Power: These new manufacturing facilities need insane amounts of electricity. Biomanufacturing plants can use 14 times more energy than regular factories. When you see a utility company building a new electrical substation—that’s a 2-3 acre facility, hard to miss—that means massive industrial demand is coming. They don’t build those for fun.

Water: Semiconductor and biotech manufacturing need specialized water treatment most cities don’t have. When a municipality issues bonds to upgrade their water systems or build new treatment plants, they’re making a huge, expensive commitment. That infrastructure locks in the value of nearby industrial land because competing cities can’t easily match it.

Roads: E-commerce was all about “last mile” delivery. Manufacturing is about “mid-mile” logistics—getting parts in and finished products out efficiently. Sites near major interstates and rail hubs win.

Goodyear, Arizona:

Arizona’s landed over $210 billion in semiconductor investments and 25,000+ jobs since 2020, thanks to CHIPS Act money. The state’s universities got $96 million just for training workers in chip manufacturing.

Everyone talks about TSMC and Samsung building massive plants there. But here’s what they’re missing: those big anchor companies need dozens of smaller suppliers nearby—companies that make components, materials, and parts. Those suppliers need land and infrastructure too, but they’re not getting billion-dollar incentives.

That’s your opportunity. Find land near where the infrastructure’s being built for the big guys, but positioned for the suppliers who’ll follow.

Louisa County, Virginia:

Louisa County’s got 100+ acres ready to go with water, sewer, gas, power, and internet already hooked up. The smart play here? It’s close to Northern Virginia’s data center boom, so the utility infrastructure is way better than you’d expect for a smaller market—because it was built to handle those power-hungry data centers.

Plus, the local development authority can issue tax-exempt bonds for manufacturing, which cuts operating costs for tenants. You’re getting big-market infrastructure at small-market land prices.

You're getting big-market infrastructure at small-market land prices.

Real talk: Finding these opportunities takes serious research time—tracking utility filings, monitoring municipal bonds, analyzing workforce development programs. The investors winning right now are using AI to automate the grunt work so they can focus on the strategic analysis that actually matters.

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Big institutional funds are slow. Really slow. It takes them over 24 months on average just to close a fund and start deploying capital. They’ve got investor meetings, committees, approvals—it’s a whole process.

And right now? Economic uncertainty and policy confusion are making them even more cautious.

That’s your window. You can move in the next 18-24 months, buy land at today’s prices, and get it entitled before the institutional money shows up and drives prices up.

Here’s the urgency: new industrial construction peaked in late 2022. The pipeline’s dropping to under 150 million square feet this year. As reshoring demand picks up, we’re going to hit a supply crunch in the next 6-9 months. Entitled, ready-to-build land is going to get expensive fast.

If you’re serious about this, here’s your checklist:

Infrastructure Signals: - Track when utility companies file for new substation permits - Watch for municipal announcements about water system upgrades - Check if there are universities nearby getting CHIPS Act workforce funding

Financial Incentives: - What state and local tax credits are available for manufacturing? - Can the local development authority issue tax-exempt bonds? - Are there grants tied to job creation?

Workforce: - Are local colleges and universities committing to technical training programs? - Is there state funding for workforce development? - Are there community colleges or trade schools nearby?

Timing: - Can you acquire and entitle the site 18-24 months before big money arrives? - Is the property near verified interstate access? - Does the local economic development authority have a track record of landing industrial projects?

Tariffs, supply chain issues, and government incentives are pushing manufacturing back to the U.S. The real estate opportunity isn’t in the expensive, crowded markets everyone knows. It’s in secondary and tertiary markets where land is cheap, infrastructure is being upgraded, and institutional capital hasn’t arrived yet.

You’ve got a small window—probably 18-24 months—before that changes.

The play is simple: track infrastructure spending (especially substations and water upgrades) before that information hits the mainstream real estate market. That’s how you find undervalued land before it gets repriced.

The question isn’t if reshoring will change industrial real estate. It’s whether you’re going to position yourself ahead of the wave or chase deals after prices have already jumped.

Want to talk about your portfolio? I’m doing complimentary asset reviews for industrial land in reshoring corridors. Let’s figure out if your properties are positioned to benefit from this shift—or if you’re sitting on land that’s about to get a lot more valuable and you don’t even know it.

Thinking about buying? I’m also helping investors and developers evaluate secondary markets with real infrastructure commitments. If you’re looking at sites in the Reshoring Belt, let’s talk about the signals that separate real opportunities from expensive mistakes.

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