Cushman & Wakefield Reports Land Rush Fever

MIAMI—There are signs of land rush fever in South Florida. Indeed, Cushman & Wakefield Industrial Brokerage Services executive director Sky Groden and director Christopher Thomson are reporting a “significant increase” in land transactions and inquiries on the commercial real estate front.

“There is a shortage of commercial and industrial land for sale in South Florida, and the contract activity is fast and furious again,” Groden tells GlobeSt.com. “There is incredible demand for land but the enthusiasm to buy is being tempered by frustrating bottlenecks in the supply chain and limited rental rate growth over the past four years.”

Take a look at a few of the recent land sales in South Florida. In Dade County, 1505 Ponce De Leon Blvd in Coral Gables sold for $8.5 million for multifamily. In Broward County, 19.57 acres recently went under contract from Florida Citizens Bank for over $8 per square foot in Port 95 to Donovan Marine, with over a dozen bidders. And in Palm Beach County, Briger tract is currently under contract to Kolter for fully entitled land near Scripps. The property is zoned for 1.2 million square feet of office, 500,000 square feet of retail and a 300-room hotel, along with 700 apartments, 1,400 multifamily homes, and 600 single-family homes.

“As new spec construction is planned and underway, optimism for new development has increased and the large amount of bidders on property's new to the market is a testament to the land rush trend,” Thompson tells GlobeSt.com. He says there are multiple built to suit opportunities between 100,000 and 125,000 square feet.  

In fact, according to Thompson, the need and interest is more than Palm Beach County has seen in the past 10 years. Given the vacancy rate is below 9%, developers are starting to look in the market for land for spec development. In Palm Beach, Aldi closed on 66 acres for an 800,000-square-foot distribution center. And CushWake recently sold 14 acres for a 120,000-square-foot build to suit for ATD for 10-year lease. These are just a few of the recent examples from CushWake alone.

“We call the shortage of land lots, growth pains,” Thompson says. “South Florida is the Gateway to the Americas, there is investment in the seaport and airport, our climate is incredible, and land prices although climbing are still low, making land a great opportunity for investors.”