ORLANDO—Demand for industrial spaces continues rising in Central Florida—and we're seeing some mega properties come to the fore. The latest is a five asset industrial portfolio spanning 1.7 million square feet in Pinellas County.

JLL's senior vice presidents John Dunphy and vice president Scott Altieri are spearheading the leasing efforts on behalf of Evergreen Industrial Properties. Evergreen recently purchased the portfolio of industrial parks for $103 million from Miami-based Fleeman Family Trust.

The portfolio includes the Gateway Business Center, Gateway Business Park, Metropointe Commerce Park, Westbay Corporate Center, and Joe's Creek Industrial Park. It offers class A, B and C industrial space located within the Gateway and South Pinellas industrial submarkets in the Tampa and Saint Petersburg area.

“We expect leasing activity to remain strong in the Gateway and South Pinellas industrial submarkets as companies seek expansion and industrial properties suitable for various uses, including a corporate headquarters,” says Dunphy. “We expect to see strong rental growth due to the area's strategic location between Tampa and St. Petersburg.”

The industrial portfolio is 84% leased and includes high caliber tenants such as Lockheed Martin, Jabil Circuit, L-3 Communications, FedEx, MTS Systems Corporation, Worldpac Corporation, Digital Lightwave Inc., and Jagged Peak. The industrial properties are suitable for companies that can house both manufacturing and warehousing operations.

According to JLL's Q2 Industrial Market research, vacancy has steadily declined since the beginning of 2013. The Pinellas submarkets continue to have the lowest vacancy rate, which should continue declining due to the limited land available for new construction.