Martin County Tenants Face a Timing Question: Wait for New Construction or Secure Existing Space Now

Martin County’s industrial market is in an unusual position: the largest opportunity on the horizon, Ashley Capital’s 1.1 million-square-foot Martin Commerce Park in Palm City, will not deliver its first buildings before 2028, while the existing base of space is small, older and tightly held. No new consequential lease, sale or approval surfaced in the county this week, and the project’s schedule has not changed since it was announced. That quiet is itself the point. For a business whose lease expires in the next two years, Martin County presents a timing decision more than a pricing one.

Two very different kinds of space

Martin Commerce Park’s first phase is planned at 485,000 SF across seven buildings, with units starting around 4,000 SF and dedicated outdoor storage and trailer parking, on 167 acres at I-95 Exit 110. Site work is expected to begin in the fourth quarter of 2026, with occupancy possible in early 2028 at the earliest. Those are developer projections, and construction timelines in this cycle have slipped more often than they have held.

The existing inventory, roughly five and a half million square feet spread across Stuart, Palm City and the airport area, is dominated by older buildings with lower clear heights, many of them owner-occupied or leased to aerospace, marine and specialty manufacturers who rarely move. Treasure Coast vacancy overall was near 12% in the second quarter on Colliers’ figures, but that number is driven by large new buildings in St. Lucie, not by availability in Martin County, where a functional 10,000-SF building with yard space can be genuinely hard to find.

How to think about the wait

A tenant who can operate from current space until 2028 and whose needs fit a modern warehouse layout may be well served by waiting, and by starting preleasing conversations early to secure the size and position it wants. A tenant who needs space in 2026 or 2027, or whose operation depends on heavy power, permitted outdoor storage, fabrication or marine work, cannot plan around a project that has not broken ground. That business should be securing existing space now, even if it is imperfect, and negotiating flexibility to move later.

The verification list is the same in either case: available power, permitted operations under the zoning, outdoor storage rights, truck access and the real delivery date. Comparing a proposed building on paper to an existing one on those five items usually settles the question.

What this means for you

If your Martin County lease expires between 2027 and 2029, start the analysis now. Map your operational requirements against both the existing market and the proposed project, and decide which risk you would rather carry: an older building for a few more years, or a delivery date you do not control.

If you own industrial property in the county, the two years before Martin Commerce Park delivers are the window to renew good tenants on longer terms, invest in the improvements that new construction cannot match, such as yard space and location, or sell to an owner-user while the existing inventory is scarce.

AXCESS Commercial helps Martin County tenants plan that timing, and helps owners lease, list for sale and manage industrial property so that the arrival of new supply is planned for rather than reacted to.

Talk to our team about leasing, listing or managing your Martin County property →