Broward Industrial Is Absorbing Space Again. The Next Test Is 3 Million Square Feet That Is Listed but Still Occupied

Broward County’s industrial market posted its second straight quarter of positive net absorption in the third quarter, about 67,800 square feet, after losing roughly 750,000 square feet of occupied space between the third quarter of 2025 and the first quarter of 2026, according to CBRE figures published October 7. Year to date, the county has gained about 158,800 square feet of occupied space. The recovery is real. How durable it is depends on space that has not emptied yet.

Why vacancy rose while demand improved

CBRE puts vacancy at 6.9%, up from 6.2% in the second quarter, because three new buildings totaling about 370,000 square feet were delivered vacant in Coral Springs and Southeast Broward. Occupancy in existing buildings improved. Availability, which counts space that can be occupied within six months whether it is empty or not, stands at 11.1%. The average direct asking rate is $17.58 per square foot, up 0.5% from the second quarter and 5.5% from a year ago, a figure that blends net and gross quotes.

Size and age split the market

Buildings under 50,000 square feet are 5.7% vacant. Buildings of 100,000 to 250,000 square feet are 8.6% vacant. The gap is wider by age: Class A buildings, those built after 2000 with 32-foot or higher clear heights, are 14.0% vacant, while the rest of the county’s industrial stock is 4.9% vacant. About 1.4 million square feet remains vacant in buildings delivered since 2025.

By submarket, Southwest Broward is the tightest at 5.4%, yet it also holds the most space listed for future availability, 811,135 square feet, much of it in larger buildings in Miramar and Weston. Pompano/Lauderdale, the county’s largest submarket, carries the highest vacancy at 8.6% and most of the construction pipeline, led by the three-building, 476,833-square-foot Festival Logistics Park in Pompano Beach. Southeast Broward, anchored by port and airport demand, has absorbed about 254,000 square feet this year.

Tenants are renewing, and renewing early

Tenants signed more than 1.5 million square feet in the quarter, up 34% from a year earlier, and nearly half was renewals. The largest was a 276,240-square-foot renewal at Tamarac Distribution Center, followed by two renewals totaling 171,400 square feet at Prologis Port 95 Distribution Center. New leases of 125,077 square feet at South Florida Distribution Center, Building C, and 44,736 square feet at Race-Track Logistics, Building 3, show recently delivered space starting to lease. CBRE notes that renewals of 50,000 square feet or more signed since 2025 have started about 10 months after signing, roughly double the lead time of 2023 and 2024.

Lease terms differ sharply by size. Only half of leases of 100,000 square feet or more carry 4% annual increases, compared with 86% of deals under 25,000 square feet.

The number to watch

More than 3 million square feet of listed space is still occupied but scheduled to come available, about 2 million square feet of it in the fourth quarter. Against that, about 319,000 square feet of signed leases are scheduled to move in during the fourth quarter and another 155,000 square feet in the first quarter of 2027. How much of the listed space actually empties will set the direction of vacancy into next year. The construction pipeline, about 829,000 square feet, is entirely speculative.

What this means for you

If you lease under 25,000 square feet, expect firm pricing and standard escalations. Small buildings remain tight. If you lease a large block, you have room to negotiate on escalations and concessions, particularly in newer buildings. In both cases, confirm the actual surrender date and the building specifications of any advertised alternative before asking your landlord to match it. If you own, early renewals are the clearest way to keep a building off the availability list.

Research firms survey different buildings and define rent differently, so compare each firm’s figures with its own prior quarters rather than with another firm’s.

AXCESS Commercial represents Broward owners and occupiers in leasing, listing buildings for sale and managing industrial properties through renewals like these.

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