Florida’s Class A office market posts big numbers

Ten years after the great recession, a new study finds the state’s entire office market has surpassed previous performance. The statewide total inventory was 94.6 million square feet. Another 2.3 million square feet are under construction. Overall vacancy rates ranged from 6.8 percent in Orlando to 13.7 percent in Miami/Dade. The statewide overall vacancy rate was 10.8 percent. [Source: Globe St.]

» See reports from Cushman & Wakefield on how office space rents and vacancies have been doing (Q3) in Broward, Fort Myers, Jacksonville, Miami, Orlando, Palm Beach, Pinellas County, Tampa
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» As office rents rise, demand for Class B surges in South Florida

Institutional investors flock to South Florida’s industrial market

South Florida’s industrial market continued to remain one of the area’s best performing asset classes in the third quarter of 2018, thanks in part to growing demand from institutional investors. Developers and investors are increasingly seeing South Florida’s industrial market as a strong investment opportunity due to e-commerce, the area’s lack of available land and growing population. [Source: The Real Deal]

Amid industry upheaval, California real estate broker opens Boca Raton office

Beverly Hills real estate brokerage The Agency said Thursday that it’ll open its first East Coast outpost in a few weeks, when it moves into a new office in Boca Raton. The Agency hired two Douglas Elliman agents, Chris Franciosa and Jared Ringel, to run the South Florida operations. They said they’re renovating a 7,000-square-foot office and plan to hire 20 agents. More from the Palm Beach Post and The Real Deal.

What's going up in Orlando? Planned high-rises will dramatically change the skyline

In the past decade, with the crutch of the recession behind it, downtown Orlando has risen higher into the sky. No longer are the emerald spires of the SunTrust building the only shadows cast across the metro area. And with a slew of new projects in the pipeline, that skyline is only expected to continue its metamorphosis. [Source: Orlando Sentinel]

A $5.85 million Miami mansion offers shelter from the storm — and other disasters, too

Amid increasingly intense hurricanes and other weather events, real estate owners are trying to get ahead of the curve by constructing new homes that can handle extremes. Some of the latest examples in high-end real estate include disaster-prepared and energy efficient properties — but ones that don't mean retreating underground or building a bunker into a mountain. [Source: CNBC]

ALSO TRENDING:

› In Tampa Bay, gap is widening between white and black home owners [Tampa Bay Times]
Even though the area has recovered from the recession and housing crash, the gap between black and white home ownership is widening. In 2007, just before the market collapsed, 46.5 percent of bay area blacks owned their homes compared to 77 percent of whites. Now, the black ownership rate has dropped to 32 percent while the rate among whites remains over 70 percent.

› Train car restaurant and shipping container park planned for downtown Sanford [Orlando Sentinel]
A developer plans to move a 95-year-old train car and 16 shipping containers into downtown Sanford for a new dining and shopping project. DeLand builder Mitch Menaker said he has purchased the 1923 train car and has a deal for a lease on a 9,000-square-foot parking lot.

› Former race-car driver revs up to retest Miami Beach’s luxury condo market [The Real Deal]
Former race-car driver Enrique Bernoldi listed his 3,793-square-foot Fisher Island condo with an asking price that may put the brakes on some buyers. Bernoldi wants $7.8 million, or just over $2,000 per square foot, for his apartment at Palazzo Del Sol.

› Florida Lifestyle Homes sells Lauren model at Babcock Ranch [Naples Daily News]
Florida Lifestyle Homes has sold the Lauren, a furnished model at Babcock Ranch, a new eco-centric town being built in Charlotte County east of Fort Myers off State Road 31. Babcock Ranch encompasses 17,608 acres and is the first solar powered town worldwide.