South Florida Office Market Deteriorates

MIAMI-Words like concession and abatement apparently are becoming more prominent in lease negotiations for class A office space in the tri-county South Florida market. In one recent deal, for instance, the leasing representative for a new office building in Coral Gables, FL, said it bluntly during negotiations with Bob Orban, a Trammell Crow Co. vice president who represents corporate tenants.

“You wouldn’t be getting this deal, if it wasn’t for the market conditions,” Orban recalls about terms of a lease agreement that included three months of rent abatement. “It’s easier to hide one, two even three months rent abatement in a new building than an existing one. Some will hide concessions there because they burn off quickly.”

Certainly weakened by an overall slowdown in the US economy, the market for class A office space in South Florida is shaky to say the least.