Miami Office Leasing on Track For Slowest Activity Since Pandemic
Office operates are re-evaluating their footprint, according to Avison Young.
Office leasing in Miami is on track for one of its slowest years since the pandemic hit the country.
It comes from Avison Young’s third-quarter market report that evaluated the performance of the asset class. As of September, leasing inched just over 2.5 million square feet year-to-date. At the same time in 2022, the figure was around four million and just under that mark a year later.
“This is partially a result of office users re-evaluating their footprint. The average deal size this year dropped to 3,682 sf compared to 4,581 sf last year,” Avison wrote.
Some recent office leases in Miami include Winston & Stawn LLP, scooping up nearly 50,000 square feet of space at 200 S Biscayne Blvd, Banco Master taking 26,746 SF at 830 Brickell Plz, and Sidley Austin locking up 18,622 SF of space at 1001 Brickell Bay Dr. As far as recent acquisitions go, Miami-Dade County made the largest purchase on Avison’s report for a $182 million for a property at 9250 W Flagler.
For the most part, Miami’s return to the office rates have been in line with the national average. However, for August, the city’s 105 percent rate outpaced country median’s 99.8 percent. In Miami, visitations are up significantly on Fridays and Mondays, which is 39 percent and 14 percent respectively. In the past 12 months in The Magic City, RTO traffic has improved by five percent.
“Law firms are leading the return-to-office efforts, demonstrating a 97% increase in office attendance since August of last year,” Avison said.
A little over 147,000 SF of office space was positively absorbed in the third quarter, which is a turnaround from the negative levels seen in the first three months of 2024. Year-to-date, net absorption is at 154,435 SF.
Direct availability was at 16.8 percent, while sublet was at 1.8 percent. Also, Direct asking rents were reported at $55.54 per SF full-service.
While leasing in Miami’s office sector has been volatile this year, Avison did note that bigger tenants remain in the market for deals.