Broward County’s industrial sector is demonstrating resilience, navigating a period of significant new inventory while maintaining strong leasing activity. Despite challenges like negative net absorption, the market is showing signs of stabilization, particularly in the small-bay segment.
Key Takeaways
- Leasing activity in Q4 surpassed 1.3 million square feet, significantly outpacing new deliveries.
- Average asking rents saw a modest annual increase to $17.21 PSF NNN.
- Vacancy rates rose to 6.8% due to seven consecutive quarters of negative absorption.
- The small-bay industrial sector remains exceptionally strong with vacancy rates between 2.3% and 3.0%.
- The construction pipeline is shrinking, indicating a potential rebalancing of market fundamentals.
Market Performance and Trends
The Broward County industrial market experienced robust leasing activity in the fourth quarter, with over 1.3 million square feet leased, nearly double the amount of new space delivered. This sustained tenant demand, however, has coincided with seven consecutive quarters of negative net absorption, leading to an increase in the vacancy rate to 6.8%. Average asking rents have seen a slight year-over-year increase of 0.5%, reaching $17.21 per square foot NNN.
A notable trend highlighted in 2025 is the exceptional resilience of South Florida’s small-bay industrial sector. This segment maintained ultra-tight vacancy rates, ranging from 2.3% to 3.0%, significantly outperforming the larger big-box industrial segment, which saw vacancy levels between 8.5% and 9.8%.
Notable Leases and Sales
Key leasing activity in the fourth quarter was concentrated in the Southwest, Northeast, and Southeast Broward submarkets. Garmin International, Inc. secured the largest lease with an extension for 340,547 square feet across three buildings in the Miramar Park of Commerce. Other significant transactions included Wal-Mart Store Inc.’s renewal for 83,342 square feet at Bridge Point Powerline Road and Good Greek Moving & Storage signing a new lease for 61,288 square feet at Bridge Point Everglades.
Sales activity remained healthy, with CenterPoint Properties acquiring Bridge Point Powerline Road for $124.5 million, marking the largest sale of the quarter. Granite REIT purchased ShipMonk’s Fort Lauderdale headquarters in Central Broward for $64.1 million, and Arnet Pharmaceutical acquired Westport Business Park for $53.1 million.
Future Outlook
With the construction pipeline shrinking to approximately 506,434 square feet, market fundamentals are anticipated to stabilize and rebalance. The continued strength of the small-bay sector and the overall leasing volume suggest a positive outlook for Broward County’s industrial market as it adapts to current supply dynamics.
Sources
- Broward’s Industrial Sector Navigates Supply Shifts, Colliers.
- Mixed Q3 Results for Broward Industrial as Leasing Outpaces Absorption, Colliers.
- Lennar among buyers of Mainstreet at Coconut Creek development site, The Business Journals.