Westpointe Warehouse at 8855 NW 35th Lane, Doral

Back on the market! This warehouse in Doral is located at 8855 NW 35th Lane in Westpointe Business Park and is now available for rent. The office/warehouse space is from 5,000 to 15,000 square feet. The warehouse is fully air conditioned and has heavy electrical power.

Westpointe is a class A business park next to the office buildings for Miami Herald, US Southern Command and Carnival Cruise Lines. It is also very near Doral Country Club, Miami International Airport (MIA), the Florida Turnpike and the Dolphin and Palmetto Expressways.

For more information on this property and others, please contact the Miami Warehouse Team at 786-433-2380.

Another half-million square feet of warehouse space was positively absorbed just over the past three months causing lease rates to slightly increase while the vacancy rate decreased to 7.5%. By comparison, the national vacancy rate is still roughly two percentage points higher at 9.3%. In our opinion, half of the properties that are available are either overpriced and/or have functional issues. Another concern of ours is that we are noticing that there are fewer, good functional properties coming available on the market for sale or lease (see Graph below). The musical chairs game is coming to an end; more companies are settling in. It is not uncommon for tenants to sign five and ten years lease terms with both new deals and renewals. Some prospective buyers and tenants continue to wait on the side lines for the perfect property to come available either on-the-market or off-the-market. Good brokers work their networks seeking future availabilities and “pocket listings” for their prospective buyers.

The biggest news of the quarter was AEW Capital Management’s acquisition of Flagler Station Business Park in Medley for $340,000,000. The property consists of 4,200,000 sq. ft. of class A and B warehouse, office and retail spaces. The seller was FDG Flagler Station. Several warehouses in Americas Gateway Park were also sold to TA Associates Realty; the seller was RREEF. The portfolio consisted of about 252,000 sq. ft. for a sales price of $19,100,000 (or $75 psf). The other large sales transaction was Seagis’ acquisition of the UPS Warehouse, at 10000 NW 25th Street, in Doral. The 340,000 sq. ft. warehouse sold for $26,500,000 or about $78 psf. United Parcel Service sold the property since their logistics operations was downsized. The entire property is now available for lease.

In case you missed it, here is more worthwhile reading of ComReal’s Miami Industrial Real Estate Market Report for Year End 2011 >>>

For a partial list of warehouses in Airport West Dade that were sold or leased, please see below.

Miami Warehouses Leased:

Miami Warehouses Sold:

Graph for Available Industrial Properties in South Florida:

Notice that in this graph the index has fallen by about 10% over the past couple of years for industrial properties that are available for sale in South Florida. Good real estate is getting hard to find and more expensive.

Back on the Market!

The ComReal Miami Warehouse Team is excited to place this eight acres parcel back on the market. For more details, please read more about this property and other news on Miami industrial land for sale >>>

Chris’ Corner:

Industrial real estate expert, Chris Spear, comments on what he is witnessing in regards to Real Estate Investment Trusts (REIT’s) now purchasing smaller warehouses. Read more at Real Estate Investment Trusts Acquire Smaller Warehouses >>>

Client Seeks Warehouse Space and Land to Lease:

• Warehouse: 25,000 to 40,000 sq. ft.
• Loading: street level preferred.
• Land: minimum of 2 to 3 Acres, parking for 150 cars.
• Use: parking and maintenance of fleet cars.
• Location: Central to North Miami Dade; preferred close to Palmetto Expressway.
• Occupancy: 4th quarter of 2012.
• National, Credit Tenant.

Service Provider of the Quarter:

We are pleased to introduce our newest strategic partner, Mr. Alex Ruiz, of Exclusive Brand Marketing. Please learn more about our service provider of the quarter at Exclusive Brand Marketing >>>

What happens when those 100,000+ sq. ft. warehouses are not available? REITs start taking a look at the 40,000-100,000 sq. ft. warehouses.  Generally, these warehouses are bought and sold by your local business owner.  If you are a business owner and looking to purchase a warehouse of that size, you need to be prepared that you might be going up against REITs bidding for the same property.  These REITs have the advantage in that they can close quickly and their offers are not contingent upon financing. 

What can the local business owner do?  The advantage a local business owner has is that they are a user and a user will usually be willing pay a little more than the REIT, as they do not have to report to their investors.  Also, if the local business owner engages a local industrial real estate professional early in their search, they will have the opportunity to hear about warehouses, many times, prior to the institutions catching wind of them. 

Our Miami-Dade industrial market is tightening, rates are creeping up, vacancy is creeping down, landlords are giving less away, and REITs are now eyeing smaller warehouses. When it comes time to think about making a move and to be sure you are getting the best value, involve a real estate professional early in your decision making process.

by Chris Spear