[Photo: Jason P. Smith]

Around the State

Miami: A worsening outlook for Latin American economies isn’t good news. Scandal-plagued Stanford Financial left 90,000 square feet behind when it closed. Developer Tibor Hollo bought a 3-acre Brickell property for less than half the $70 million it fetched four years ago. The office vacancy rate is 15%. With trade falling, the industrial market is seeing the highest vacancies in five years. Retail is holding up.

Broward: The market has $147 million in distressed office property. Industrial vacancies have risen for 12 quarters, while one north Broward property sold for 55% of its 2005 price.

Orlando: With an overall 17.4% office vacancy rate, rents are stabilizing. The airport market is strongest. The industrial market, dependent in Orlando on storing retail goods and building supplies, is seeing the worst vacancies in a decade. The industrial vacancy rate was 14.3% in the second quarter compared to 9.5% the year before. The retail vacancy rate was up to 8.4% last year.

Palm Beach: At 22.5%, Palm Beach County has one of the highest office vacancy rates in the nation. Two new office buildings in Boca were completed empty. The industrial vacancy rate is 11.9%.

Tampa Bay: Being the back office for national companies works against the Bay area in an era of consolidation. The Pinellas office market is faring worse than Hillsborough’s. In retail, community centers are doing the worst with a 9.1% vacancy rate. The industrial vacancy rate is 8.9%.

Jacksonville: A minor miracle in Florida commercial real estate: In the second quarter, rental rates in the industrial market were down only 7% to 10% for Class A space and more space was actually leased than vacated. Not so in other sectors. Bank consolidation hurts as shown by an overall office vacancy rate of 19.9%. The retail rate is 10.6%.

Source: Grubb & Ellis, CB Richard Ellis