Volume of $126 million to date could surpass the $149 million posted in 1998, one of the area's best years. Average per-sf sales of $37.78 are the highest in five years. That number compares with $26.08 in 2000; $31.14 in 1999; $28.79 in 1998 and $19.62 in 1997.

"Large transactions are helping," Jeffrey S. Sweeney, executive vice president/managing director, Grubb & Ellis Co., tells GlobeSt.com. The Sept. 11 terrorist events haven't affected the industrial market here to date, Sweeney says. Overall vacancies are at 9.3%, down one percentage point from mid-year.

The biggest deal of the year to date is Caleast Industrial Investors' $37 million purchase ($39.78 per sf) of the 11-building, 930,000-sf center of Commerce in northwest Orlando. "This transaction alone accounts for 30% of the entire sales volume to date," Sweeney says.