JLL Forms Small-Bay Industrial Speciality
“By moving the small bay product into its own specialty practice, we can make the process more efficient and cost effective for our clients.”
MIAMI—JLL is expanding its industrial brokerage division to serve the increasing institutional demand for small bay, multi-tenant properties in South Florida.
JLL’s newly formed specialty practice will focus solely on multi-tenant facilities and industrial parks comprised of units ranging from 2,500 to 10,000 square feet, serving a variety of uses including wholesalers of HVAC parts, local cosmetic distributors, and flooring installers. The Small Bay Division is being led by JLL’s Brian Smith, managing director, along with partners Audley Bosch, EVP, and Matt Maciag, VP.
“There has always been small bay demand, however we are now seeing increased demand because there are more companies servicing two key drivers: population growth and tourism.” Smith tells GlobeSt.com. “While this product does tend to sway more during any economic downturns due to the nature of the tenancy, I believe this demand is constant and will continue to see incremental growth in the region.”
Smith says there’s currently very little, if any, new construction planned in Miami today. The bulk of this kind of space is existing, older product as it is very difficult to make numbers work for new development of this product type, he says.
Of the approximately 11 million square feet of industrial space that the JLL team leases currently across South Florida, approximately 1.7 million square feet is considered “small bay”.
“By moving the small bay product into its own specialty practice, we can make the process more efficient and cost effective for our clients, which is the genesis for establishing this division,” Bosch said. “We are creating a one-stop shop led by an experienced and knowledgeable industrial real estate team with robust resources.”
JLL’s South Florida industrial team already serves a blue-chip roster of clients in the small bay specialty practice, including Brookfield Logistics, Link Industrial Properties and MDH Partners.
With the investment in place, JLL aims to expand the practice by an additional 3 to 5 million square feet over the next few years.