Central Florida, heated up by Orlando, is also looking bright. Lambert points to the area's strong tourism draw as the main driver of the market's growth. He cites data that project 57 million tourists to visit Metro Orlando this year, up from 55 million in 2013. Hotels and apartment complexes are going under development there to support the growth, and that means more consumers for retailers to target.

The two areas that are lagging a bit behind in the state are the southwest and northeast. But Lambert did have some favorable things to say about them. “Southwest Florida has been lagging, but the Naples-Fort Myers market is coming along nicely” he reports. “We thought Jacksonville was slow to rebound, but our office and industrial teams are spending a lot of time and effort there, and seeing positive improvements.”

There are a few statewide trends Lambert is seeing, for one thing, the grocery market is heating up. Publix Super Markets, traditionally, the strongest player in the state, could see some competition from Walmart's expanding Neighborhood Market concept.

“Walmart and Publix are really going head to head,” Lambert says. “Clearly, Publix is the dominant grocer in the market. They are the elite. Since they've done so well, they have attracted competition like Walmart's Neighborhood Market.” He also sees Dick's Sporting Goods making a statewide expansion push.

As with other markets across the country, expanding retailers are facing a challenge -- a lack of new retail real estate development. It's bound not to last, though, Lambert predicts.

“The time will arrive when we are back in a development mode,” he says. “There is a lot of pent up demand. If it's really well thought out, controlled and managed growth, it will be embraced by almost every submarket.”