South Florida’s largest industrial leases in 2018

Industrial lease deals in South Florida are getting larger and happening more frequently, commercial brokers say.

Erin Byers, vice president of Colliers International South Florida said leased spaces have grown over the past five years. The top 10 deals five years ago would only sometimes hit the 100,000-square-foot mark. “Now, almost all the deal sizes are in the 80,000 square foot range and up,” she said.

CBRE’s Tony Hoover sees a similar trend. He represented tech startup ShipMonk in its recent 170,447-square-foot lease deal at Bridge Point Riverbend, a speculative 221,542-square-foot industrial building close to completion in Fort Lauderdale. Byers represented the landlord.

“Building a speculative 220,000-square-foot project sounds risky, but there’s a market there to absorb it,” Hoover said.

Here, The Real Deal breaks down this year’s five largest industrial lease deals in South Florida, ranging from 200,000 square feet to about 257,000 square feet. The data is from Colliers International South Florida.

Nestlé leases entire building in northwest Miami-Dade

The thirst for industrial space led to Nestlé Waters North America’s 257,000-square-foot lease at the Airport North Logistics Park.

The company filled an entire building at 8501 Northwest 80th Street, and takes nearly one-third of the space at the 900,000-square-foot, three-building logistics park in northwest Miami-Dade.

L&B Realty Advisors, based in Dallas, owns the industrial park. Cushman & Wakefield’s Wayne Ramoski, Gian Rodriguez and Skylar Stein represented L&B, while CBRE’s Tom O’Loughlin, Marineh Dermovsesian and Larry Genet represented Nestlé Waters.

The company has 15 brands under its umbrella, including Zephryhills. Nestlé Waters is a subsidiary of the Switzerland-based food and beverage company Nestle, S.A.

USL Cargo Services occupies distribution center in Weston

Logistics company USL Cargo Services came in second place, but is still one of the largest lease deals in Broward County so far this year.

The company occupied an entire 232,000-square-foot warehouse in Weston. The distribution center at 3245 Meridian Parkway was previously vacant. It takes up about 11 acres within the Weston Meridian Business Campus, near I-75.

USL Cargo Services handles air and sea freight and provides storage for dry and refrigerated cargo. It was launched in 2015 when it partnered with Hong Kong-based Cargo Services Far East Limited.

Postal Center International heads to Weston

Postal Center International, a print, mail and marketing company plans to move into a 224,650-square-foot office building at 2965 West Corporate Lakes Boulevard in early summer 2019.

The company signed the lease over the summer. The landlord is Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America or TIAA. Build-out is expected to begin soon.

The climate-controlled building offers about 30,000 square feet of office space, 30-foot clear heights, 32 dock-high doors, two drive-in ramps and 296 parking spaces.

Emser Tile inks lease at new industrial building in Coral Springs

Over the summer, Emser Tiles inked a 215,486-square-foot lease within the Coral Springs Commerce Center for one of its new distribution centers.

The company moved in in late September, according to representative at the company. Emser has three other distribution centers in the United States.

The building at 4030 Northwest 126 Street was recently developed by Pennsylvania-based Exeter Property Group. The second phase of Coral Springs Commerce Center will consist of three speculative industrial buildings.

Exeter acquired the 40-acre property last year from a Swiss manufacturing company called Hoerbiger.

Dufry signs lease for future HQ at Prologis’ Beacon Lakes

Swiss travel retailer Dufry inked the fifth largest lease deal in February when it signed a 200,000-square-foot contract at Prologis’ Beacon Lakes business park in northwest Miami-Dade County.

Dufry plans to move into its new headquarters by the first quarter of 2019. The build-to-suit warehouse space will add 40,000 square feet to the retailer’s current footprint in the area.

The property is located on the southeast corner of Northwest 137th Avenue and Northwest 14th Street, between Northwest 14th and State Road 836. Dufry formerly operated out of a 160,000-square-foot space at the nearby International Corporate Park in Doral.

The 478-acre Beacon Lakes has signed on tenants such as Amazon, UPS, Ryder System, and NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises.

The top 5 South Florida industrial leases signed in 2018