Duty-free retailer renews 194,000 sf warehouse lease in Miami

DFASS Group, the biggest in-flight duty-free retailer, is staying put at its South Florida warehouse space. 

DFASS renewed its 193,558-square-foot lease at the Aventura Industrial Center in Miami. The deal is the third largest industrial lease of 2015, according to Colliers International South Florida. The company, which has more than 25 stores in North America, Latin America and the Caribbean, has based its distribution center there since 2011.

Jonathan Kingsley, Stephen Rutchik and Ryan Goggins of Colliers represented the landlord, Stockbridge Capital Group. Jonathan Sredni of US Property Management represented DFASS for the lease at the Aventura Industrial Center, at 555 Northeast 185th Street and 320 Northeast 187th Street.

Seafood wholesaler Kansas Marine is the other tenant. Kingsley told The Real Deal that he is working with Kansas Marine to renew its lease as well. He could not comment on DFASS’s lease, but said that the retailer signed a long-term lease that was “fair market relative to the size and credit worthiness of the tenant.” The lease was signed at the end of December.

Kingsley said the size and location of the tenant’s space falls in the middle of the industrial market in South Florida. At the low end, rents average $4.50 to $5 per square foot, while at the high end, rents average $10 per square foot for new product, he said. Based on that estimate, a comparable space for DFASS would lease for about $7.50 per square foot, which comes out to $1.45 million.

Stockbridge Capital Group, which sold a shopping center in Margate this week for $28 million, acquired the 302,825-square-foot complex in 2012. Colliers was tapped to lease the industrial property in August.