January 2021 – RRCRA

Amazon Boosts South Florida’s Industrial Market In Q4 And 2020

South Florida’s industrial market performed well in the fourth quarter and in 2020, as Amazon leased about 3 million square feet throughout the year, according to a recently released report.

The region’s average asking rent rose slightly to $8.88 in the year’s final quarter, up 1.6 percent year-over-year, according to the report from Newmark. The fourth quarter vacancy rate hit a low 4.9 percent, thanks to pre-leasing activity. About 6 million square feet of industrial space is currently under construction in the tri-county area, with more than half of it already leased.

Here is a breakdown for each of the counties:

Miami-Dade County

Miami-Dade’s vacancy rate stayed consistent at 4.5 percent for the fourth quarter. Average asking rent was $8.33, up 1 percent quarter-over-quarter, and up about 4 percent year-over-year.

The county saw 266,000 square feet of space delivered during the quarter. Miami-Dade represented more than half the region’s net absorption, with 2.7 square feet absorbed during 2020. Fifteen buildings totaling more than 3.1 million square feet are under construction, with 56 percent of that already leased. That means that it will not have much of an impact on the county’s vacancy rate this year, according to Newmark.

The top lease deals in the county included Keuhne & Nagel leasing 209,610 square feet at 3401 Northwest 72nd Avenue in Miami and IFS Neutral Maritime leasing 93,320 square feet of space at 1350 Northwest 121st Avenue in Miami.

Top industrial sales in the county included the $16.2 million sale of Doral warehouse by a family that owns an international logistics company.

Broward County

Broward’s vacancy rate continued to rise, reaching 5.6 percent at the end of the fourth quarter, the highest in the region. That’s an increase, quarter-over-quarter and year-over-year, of about 2 percent and 6 percent, respectively. But the vacancy rate remained below the 6 percent vacancy rate reported at the end of 2015.

The county saw 373,000 square feet of new space delivered during the quarter. About two-thirds of the 1.6 million square feet under construction is available for lease.

The average asking rent in the fourth quarter was $9.39, down 0.3 percent, year-over-year, and down 0.7 percent, quarter-over-quarter. Increased availability from second-tier space helped rents decrease, according to Newmark.

Amazon signed three of the top leases in the quarter in Broward for about 1 million square feet. Overall, Amazon is responsible for most of the largest leases signed during the year.

Elion Partners had two of the top purchases of the quarter, paying $31.5 million for a Dania Beach building and $12 million for Bennett Auto Supply in Pompano Beach.

Palm Beach County

The county’s vacancy rate was 5.4 percent in the fourth quarter, a new record high since at least the fourth quarter of 2015. Newmark credited this to the delivery of five buildings totaling over 768,000 square feet.

The average asking rent was $9.84, up 1 percent, quarter-over-quarter, and up 0.4 percent, year-over-year.

About 1.3 million square feet is under construction in the county, 1 million of it for an Amazon distribution center. The county had 77,000 square feet of industrial space absorbed during the fourth quarter.

The largest leases signed during the quarter include two in West Palm Beach: Tire Hub leasing 40,500 square feet of space at 305 Haverhill Road and Jamlyn Supply leasing 38,880 square feet of space at 6051 Southern Boulevard.

Top deals during the quarter included an Atlanta-based industrial investment group buying a newly built warehouse in the Palm Beach Park of Commerce for $27.2 million.

Source: The Real Deal

Industry News

Microsoft, Citadel And Elliott Management Among Firms Expanding In South Florida

Close up image of human hands holding sprout

Microsoft, Citadel and Elliott Management are all in talks to lease office space in South Florida, adding fuel to the trend of major tech and finance firms expanding in the region.

Seattle-based Microsoft is reportedly in talks to lease 30,000 square feet at 830 Brickell, a 57-story office tower being developed by Vlad Doronin and his joint venture partner Cain International, according to Business Insider.

Billionaire Ken Griffin’s Chicago-based hedge fund Citadel is also eyeing 830 Brickell, and is on the hunt for up to 80,000 square feet in Miami. Griffin has been acquiring land on Miami Beach’s Star Island, and his Citadel Securities has been operating a temporary trading room in Palm Beach since the pandemic began.

Baker McKenzie is also in talks for space at 830 Brickell, according to Business Insider.

MSD Partners, the private investment firm of Dell Technologies billionaire Michael Dell, provided a $300 million loan to construct 830 Brickell in 2019. WeWork was announced as an anchor tenant, though it’s unclear whether the co-working operator will still be a tenant. When it is completed in 2022, the building will mark the first new large Class A office tower in the downtown Miami market in the last decade.

Elliott Management, the hedge fund founded by Paul Singer, is expected to sign a 40,000-square-foot lease at Related Companies’ 360 Rosemary office tower in downtown West Palm Beach. (Related is expected to close on the nearby Phillips Point office towers for $282 million.) Elliott Management has been looking in the market for months, the Palm Beach Post reported.

New Day USA, a mortgage company based in Maryland, is also reportedly finalizing a lease for about 50,000 square feet in the same building as Elliott Management.

Blackstone Group announced earlier this year that it is taking 41,000 square feet at 2MiamiCentral, an office building at the mixed-use MiamiCentral development, anchored by Brightline.

Virtu Financial plans to sign a 10-year lease in Palm Beach Gardens to relocate about 30 people from New York, Bloomberg previously reported.

Source: The Real Deal

Industry News

Kushner Companies Buying Sites Near Delray Beach And Lake Worth For Industrial And Mixed-Use Projects

10349421 - hand of businessman holding dollars

Kushner Companies is expanding in South Florida, acquiring two development sites in Palm Beach County, The Real Deal has learned.

The New York-based firm is buying two properties near Delray Beach and near Lake Worth Beach, according to a source close to the deal. An industrial project is planned for the Delray-area property and a mixed-use multifamily development for the Lake Worth site.

Kushner Companies could not be reached for comment. It’s unclear when the deals will close.

The firm, founded by Charles Kushner and led by president Laurent Morali, has already announced plans for three major apartment projects in South Florida since the start of 2019. The company is planning to bring roughly 3,000 units at a cost topping $1 billion in Miami and Fort Lauderdale.

Morningstar Nursery, led by Paul Okean, currently owns both Palm Beach County properties. The Lake Worth property is on the northeast corner of Hypoluxo Road and South Military Trail, across from a Walmart Supercenter, and the other is agricultural land west of the Florida Turnpike and north of Atlantic Avenue, along Starkey Road, near Delray Beach.

Morning Star Nursery reportedly works with Home Depot, Walmart and wholesale suppliers. The company could not be reached for comment.

On the Delray site, Kushner is planning a 900,000-square-foot industrial development, likely for a single distribution tenant. The developer would have to secure a land use change from agricultural to industrial to build the project.

On the Lake Worth property, Kushner plans a multifamily and retail development with 384 apartments and 60,000 square feet of retail space.

Kushner is expected to break ground this year on its Wynwood and Edgewater apartment projects in Miami. The company opened a South Florida office last year in Bay Harbor Islands, led by Michael Szafranski and Gabriela Toledo.

Source: The Real Deal

Industry News, Money

Look Ahead 2021: Shipping To Play Large Role In Economic Recovery

Shipping never stops. But, the Covid-19 pandemic certainly altered how it was done in 2020.

Locally, container revenues at the Port of Jacksonville for October — the most recent number information was available—was 1% below October 2019 figures at $2.86 million. Auto revenues for the same period were $1.35 million, a 2 % decrease. The year was expected to wrap up with volumes continuing to rise but still below the same period in 2019.

“For the first quarter we should be doing better than projected,” Jaxport CEO Eric Green said.

“The state’s ports are catalysts for commerce,” said Florida Ports Council chief executive Doug Wheeler in a November podcast with Tallahassee Chamber of Commerce.

Wheeler represents the state’s 15 deep water ports, including the Port of Jacksonville and Port of Fernandina.

“I’m confident that our seaports will play a big role in that recovery,” Wheeler said. “…We’re about $117 billion. Our ports are delivering, pretty much, everything that people, businesses, residents, consumers in our state are using in their everyday lives.”

Wheeler said the diversity within the state’s ports is what allowed many to withstand 2020. Jaxport executives certainly believe that is the case.

“We’re not just all cruise ships,” said Ed Fleming, a longtime maritime executive who has served on the Jacksonville Port Authority since 2014. “We’re bulk cargo. We’re Asian cargo. We’re domestic cargo. We do some military cargo, liquid bulk, dry bulk. So, we don’t have all our eggs in one basket. And, I think, that diversification has shielded us, somewhat, from some of the other ports that are heavy into cruise ships like PortMiami and Port Everglades.”

Fleming said the key heading into 2021 is getting the pandemic under control.

“Covid will still be with us next year, for the most part,” Fleming said. “It will get better and better, gradually, over time. I think 2021 will be better than 2020, but probably not back to normal – in any industry for that matter.”

Source: Jax Biz Journal

Amazon Boosts South Florida’s Industrial Market In Q4 And 2020

Miami-Dade County

Broward County

Palm Beach County

Microsoft, Citadel And Elliott Management Among Firms Expanding In South Florida

Kushner Companies Buying Sites Near Delray Beach And Lake Worth For Industrial And Mixed-Use Projects

Look Ahead 2021: Shipping To Play Large Role In Economic Recovery

“For the first quarter we should be doing better than projected,” Jaxport CEO Eric Green said.

“The state’s ports are catalysts for commerce,” said Florida Ports Council chief executive Doug Wheeler in a November podcast with Tallahassee Chamber of Commerce.

“I’m confident that our seaports will play a big role in that recovery,” Wheeler said. “…We’re about $117 billion. Our ports are delivering, pretty much, everything that people, businesses, residents, consumers in our state are using in their everyday lives.”

“Covid will still be with us next year, for the most part,” Fleming said. “It will get better and better, gradually, over time. I think 2021 will be better than 2020, but probably not back to normal – in any industry for that matter.”

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