Q4 Big for Palm Beach Office Sales

PALM BEACH COUNTY, FL-Almost 1.7 million sf of office space traded hands in the fourth quarter in Palm Beach County, resulting in a near-record level of office sales, according to a recent report by Cushman & Wakefield. This is a significant portion of the more than 2.1 million sf that was sold in all of 2003, the fourth-quarter Palm Beach County office overview states. Overall, almost 30 office building acquisitions occurred in Palm Beach County last year. Of the county’s 2003 office sales, 40% took place in the West Palm Beach central business district. Sales in the county have not surpassed two million sf in more than four years; 2.3 million sf was sold in 1999.

“These sales figures are a strong indication that the Palm Beach County office market is experiencing renewed investor interest and is beginning to stabilize in what was previously a fluctuating economy in 2002 and early 2003,” the report states. Class A building investment is expected to continue in the CBD and other submarkets this year.

Also, says the report, the Boca Raton submarket, the county’s dominant corporate sector, is starting to recover. The submarket’s fourth-quarter statistics show almost 50,000 sf of positive direct net absorption, compared with negative 35,421 sf in the previous fourth quarter. The improvement was affected greatly by activity in class A office buildings along the Federal Highway corridor, including the 595 Financial Center and the Renaissance Centre, both of which were successful at pre-leasing and delivered about 70% occupied.