The cost of building new warehouses has been rising in South Florida thanks in part to a dwindling and more expensive supply of land.
Land prices have skyrocketed in recent years, up 106 percent this year in Broward County to about $1.2 million per acre since 2013, according to research analyzed by Colliers International South Florida. In Miami-Dade, industrial development sites are trading for about $940,000 per acre, up more than three times the $297,000 per acre that land was selling for in 2013.
Colliers looked at land sales for industrial use that sold for $2.5 million and up.
Land is the most expensive in Broward, but prices have increased at a faster clip in Miami-Dade, according to the research. In Palm Beach, the cost of industrial land grew at a slower pace over the five-year timeline. In 2018, developers paid about $304,000 per acre, compared to the $209,000 per-acre cost in 2013. And land prices in Palm Beach County actually peaked in 2017, when sales averaged about $556,000 per acre.
Here’s the breakdown from 2013 to 2018:
Active players in Broward include Bridge Development Partners, which paid $12.3 million for 40 acres of land in Pompano Beach in November. There, the firm is planning a 467,000-square-foot industrial park. The trade broke down to $307,500 per acre.