MIAMI-The industrial market in Miami-Dade County is picking up, says Eric Swanson, executive vice president at Flagler based in Coral Gables. One indication of the upswing is a report in the July 21st issue of the online newsletter Real Estate Alert, that TA Associates Realty, which owns the 881,000 square foot Palmetto Distribution Center in west Miami-Dade, has a contract to sell the property to AMB Property for $67 million. The five-building complex, which is about five miles from Miami International Airport, was built from 1992 through 1997 and has an occupancy rate of 95%.

The cap rate on the AMB deal is just under 6%, which is very attractive, says Swanson. There has been lots of interest in this property, which is about to trade at $75 per square foot, he says.

“The (Palmetto Distribution Center deal) is the biggest sale that has happened in a while,” says Swanson. In April, IDI, in a joint venture with institutional investors advised by J.P. Morgan Asset Management, sold four of the six buildings in the 1.1 million square foot Weston Business Center in Weston, Fla. near Ft. Lauderdale, for $65 million, or $96 per square foot. “These are the only two big sales which have occurred recently,” he says . “But they are indications that values for high quality properties remain high,“ says Swanson.