According to Newmark Grubb Knight Frank’s (“NGKF”) latest reports for South Florida, market fundamentals in the industrial sector have fully recovered when measured by third quarter vacancy rates, while the office sector continues to make modest, but encouraging, improvement.
Broward County and Palm Beach County ended the quarter with industrial vacancy around or below the 8.0% mark, while Miami’s industrial vacancy rate is still hovering near 6.0% despite the recent addition of over one million square feet of new inventory delivered since the beginning of 2012.
“The improved demand we are seeing for industrial properties, in part, stems from a recovering residential real estate market, most notably in the multi-family sector,” said Adam Greenberg, executive managing director in NGKF’s Miami office. “As homeowners look to remodel existing properties and homebuilders deliver new projects, the need for manufacturing, warehouse and distribution space grows and in turn boosts demand for retail space.”
In response to robust demand, an additional 750,000 square feet of speculative industrial projects is underway in Broward County with the anticipation that tenants will begin to move north in search available quality spaces.
The office sector, to a lesser extent, also experienced modest growth during the third quarter, with the vacancy rate falling slightly across the three counties. Broward County ended the quarter with the lowest level in the region at 15.8%. Miami followed closely behind at 17.0% but experienced the strongest year-to-date absorption numbers with over 400,000 square feet of absorbed office space. According to the NGKF report, this is a positive sign and is consistent with earlier projections of moderate growth and slowly improved conditions.
“Across South Florida, over 1.7 million square feet of office leasing activity was tracked in the third quarter,” said Jon Bourbeau, vice chairman in NGKF’s Miami office. “The majority of deals continued to come from tenants already in the market in the form of expansions, renewals and relocations. The flight-to-quality trend persists as companies take advantage of market conditions to upgrade to higher-end, significantly more efficient buildings.”
Download the complete reports below:
Newmark Grubb Knight Frank’s 3Q13 Fort Lauderdale Office Market Report
Newmark Grubb Knight Frank’s 3Q13 Fort Lauderdale Industrial Market Report
Newmark Grubb Knight Frank’s 3Q13 Palm Beach Office Market Report
Newmark Grubb Knight Frank’s 3Q13 Palm Beach Industrial Market Report
Newmark Grubb Knight Frank’s 3Q13 Miami Office Market Report
Newmark Grubb Knight Frank’s 3Q13 Miami Industrial Market Report
About Newmark Grubb Knight Frank
Newmark Grubb Knight Frank (NGKF) is one of the world’s leading commercial real estate advisory firms. Together with its affiliates and London-based partner Knight Frank, NGKF employs more than 12,000 professionals, operating from more than 320 offices in established and emerging property markets on five continents.
With roots dating back to 1929, NGKF’s strong foundation makes it one of the most trusted names in commercial real estate. Its integrated services platform includes leasing advisory, global corporate services, investment sales and capital markets, consulting, program and project management, property and facilities management, and valuation services. A major force in the real estate marketplace, NGKF serves the local and global property requirements of tenants, landlords, investors and developers worldwide. For further information, visit www.ngkf.com.
NGKF is a part of BGC Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ: BGCP), a leading global brokerage company primarily servicing the wholesale financial and real estate markets. For further information, visit www.bgcpartners.com.
