Miami Sees Resurgence of Large Industrial Deals

MIAMI-Transcor just signed a new industrial lease for 142,000 sf that is worth more than $3 million in the city in a deal brokered by Cushman & Wakefield, and the firm has several other deals of that magnitude pending in the city.Brian Smith, director of industrial brokerage for Cushman & Wakefield, says the area once again is seeing large deals transpire–something that slowed for two years after the Sept. 11 tragedy. Companies are doing more than just looking at space, he says; there is a “resurgence” of large industrial deals in the area.Transcor is going to use its new property, located at 3301 N.W. 107th St. in Dolphin Distribution Center, as a distribution/warehouse center. Smith and Wayne Ramoski, senior director of industrial brokerage for Cushman & Wakefield, represented the property owner, AMB Property Corp., in the transaction.And this deal is just the beginning, Smith tells GlobeSt.com. “We have six pending transactions all over 100,000 sf–sales and leases that we expect to be closing within the next 60 days.” The larger deals have seen a rebirth in the last 12 months in the market. Among them are a 112,000-sf lease for National Beverage, a 96,000-sf lease for Caribmar Forwarding Inc. and an 87,000-sf lease with RPM Warehouse, Smith says. The new lease with Transcor, a warehousing and logistics company, as well as these three, were all for five years or longer.”It just points to the resurgence of larger companies,” Smith says. “For two years, following Sept. 11, there was definitely a slowdown. I think there’s a renewed confidence due to the economy.” He adds in a statement: “We have seen a marked resurgence in deals above 75,000 sf, a testimony that larger companies are no longer just kicking the tires. We expect this trend to continue.”David H. Buxbaum, AMB’s vice president and regional manager for Miami, pointed out at least one reason behind the demand for industrial space in the market: “The Miami market represents an important link in the global supply chain and is a strategic location for warehousing, logistics and transportation customers such as Transcor.” Most of the industrial transactions in the area have been for warehouse and distribution facilities, according to Cushman & Wakefield. In the first half of the year, North Central Dade County saw more than 500,000 sf of industrial leasing activity.