MIAMI-Locally based Freedom Fresh has signed a 92,579-sf lease to stay at Westpointe Business Center, which is located at 8901 NW 33rd St. The 10-year lease has an aggregate net value of $8 million. In March 2004, the produce wholesaler tookan additional 29,603 sf at the park to bring its headquarters to nearly 93,000 sf, as GlobeSt.com previously reported.

CB Richard Ellis senior vice president Wayne Schuchts and associate Michael Hinton, of the company's Miami-West Dade office, represented the landlord, Des Moines-based Principal Global. Schuchts tells GlobeSt.com the space is used for the distribution of produce. The deal keeps the occupancy at Westpointe Business Center at 100%.

Westpointe Business Center is a class A business park located in the Airport West submarket. "Freedom Fresh was looking for a location that was professional as well as functional," Schuchts says. "The location offers easy access to the Palmetto Expressway, Dolphin Expressway and Miami International Airport."

Freedom Fresh is a produce company with three divisions. The wholesale/retail division supplies fruits and vegetables to retail supermarkets, gourmet stores and other wholesalers. The cruise ship & export division supplies the cruise ship industry and clients in the Caribbean and the services division receives, pre-cools, stores and ships product for third party importers.

CBRE's MarketView for the first quarter of 2006, the latest numbers available, put the industrial vacancy rate in Miami at 3.3%, up slightly from the last quarter of 2005--but still one of the lowest in the country. Overall, the average asking rate for bulk space in the county was $6.98 per sf and the average asking rate for flex space was $17.48 per sf, a $10.05 per sf increase over the previous quarter.