Broward Industrial Absorption on the Mend

BROWARD COUNTY, FL-The Broward County industrial market’s direct net absorption showed significant improvement in the first quarter as the market’s forecast is positive for this year, says a report just released by Cushman & Wakefield. The first-quarter direct net absorption was a positive 472,631 sf, compared with negative 72,378 sf the same time last year. A big factor was the leasing of new construction in Northern Broward, the report says.Overall leasing activity was healthy but down a little to one million sf from 1.2 million sf a year earlier. The figure was unchanged from the fourth quarter of last year to the first quarter. The decline is attributed to the lack of a blockbuster lease in the first quarter, when the most significant deal was Le Cordon Bleu’s 67,996-sf lease. In the first quarter of 2003, a much more significant lease occurred, when Quantum Fine Casework signed for 232,000 sf of sublease space.Despite this drop, the market saw its overall vacancy rate decrease 0.7 of a percentage point to 8.6% from 9.3% at the end of last year, and 0.9 of a percentage point from 9.5% in the 2003 first quarter.In the first quarter, every submarket but one experienced a decline in its overall vacancy rate, and the one, Central Broward, was unchanged at 6.2%, compared with a year ago. The North Broward submarket saw the biggest vacancy decline, 1.2 percentage points, from 8.5% in last year’s first quarter to 7.3% a year later.The Broward industrial market is expected to continue its success this year, with leasing activity increasing and developer confidence in the market, illustrated by the nearly 1.2 million sf of construction under way and 1.5 million sf proposed there, the report concludes.