ORLANDO—Although Downtown Miami has been the story in Florida's commercial real estate renaissance over the past year, Central and North Florida are seeing renewed interest from investors and the brokerage firms that serve them. Several commercial real estate service firms have either opened offices or expanded their presence in Central Florida to tap into the opportunities they see from Tampa to Orlando and Jacksonville.

"We have seen a lot more transaction volume and activity in North and Central Florida," says HFF managing director Brad Peterson, who just opened an HFF office in Orlando. "More institutional clients are focused on buying and banks and other owners are busy selling. It made sense to be on the ground here to service our clients."

Just weeks earlier, Lee & Associates merged with Southern Commercial Real Estate Advisors, an industrial-focused brokerage in Orlando. Lee Central Florida is headed by Southern Commercial's founding principals William "Bo" Bradford Jr. and Tom McFadden. Just before merging, the firm had reached more than nine million square feet of assignments, as well as an additional 2.1 million square feet of planned industrial inventory.