ORLANDO—ThyssenKrupp Materials just swapped spaces. The firm’s copper and brass sales division needed a larger, more modern facility and did what many other industrial space users did in 2011—upgraded.

Deborah Mickler and Forrest Askew of Colliers International Central Florida and Pete Kepic of Colliers International Detroit represented ThyssenKrupp Materials in the five-year lease. Dan Colletto of Liberty Property Trust and Paul Sabga represented the landlord, Liberty AIPO Limited Partnership.

“While the vacancy is still high, national tenants are taking advantage of the market to move to much more functional buildings at today's good rates,” Mickler tells GlobeSt.com. ThyssenKrupp needed a 28- to 30-foot ceiling height and 50-by-50-foot column to increase efficiency. The company settled on 44,680 square feet of warehouse space at 2487 Tradeport Dr. in Orlando. Only four properties in the search met ThyssenKrupp’s requirements.

With the move, ThyssenKrupp almost doubles its current size. In addition to its efficient design, the new facility is close to the company's customers and major road networks. ThyssenKrupp’s move is one of the many deals that helped bring Orlando’s industrial vacancy rates down this year. According to Colliers, vacancy sits at about 12%.

“In a good year, Central Florida would have net absorption of three million square feet. We are not to this level yet and will probably absorb 800,000 square feet in 2011,” Mickler says. “There is still a lack of new inbound deals to the market due to the previous slowdown in retail and tourism. Since both are starting to pick up, we would expect that there would be more demand for industrial space in the future.”

Does the near future include new industrial space construction? Other than perhaps build-to-suits, Mickler doesn’t think so—at least not in 2012. When the vacancy rate declines to 8%, she expects to see potential new development. She says, “Financing is still very difficult to obtain and new projects are not justifiable until the market is more stable with a definite positive outlook for the future.”