Fort Lauderdale’s industrial market has recalibrated after an extended run of historically tight conditions. The headline — a 7.3% vacancy rate, a ten-year high — masks a vintage split: pre-2000 product sits at 3.3% vacancy while space delivered in the past five years runs closer to 35%. Even so, vacancy holds inside the 7.5% national average, sales volume reached $2.2 billion over the trailing twelve months — more than double the ten-year norm — and pricing keeps a firm premium at $260/SF versus roughly $161 nationally. With the construction pipeline running below its long-term average, the setup into 2027 points toward stabilization.
What Happened in Q2
Four threads define Fort Lauderdale’s industrial story this quarter:
- Leasing velocity has stabilized. Roughly 1,230 leases totaling 6.6M SF closed over the trailing twelve months, at an average deal size near 5,300 SF. Among the largest: Owens & Minor’s 143K SF West Sunrise renewal and JELD-WEN’s 135K SF Coral Springs lease.
- Vacancy is a vintage story, not a demand story. Pre-2000 large-format product is just 3.3% vacant, while buildings completed since 2015 sit near 19.5% and space delivered in the past five years runs closer to 35%. Speculative new supply — not soft demand — is carrying the slack.
- The pipeline is running lean. 1.3M SF is underway across 13 properties — below the 10-year average of 1.7M SF — and 16.3% is preleased. Demolition has taken roughly 1M SF of obsolete product offline since 2021, holding net inventory growth to about 5.1M SF.
- Capital has re-engaged at scale. $2.2B in trailing-twelve-month sales volume more than doubles the ~$1.0B ten-year average. National, out-of-market buyers drove 77% of activity and private capital represented roughly 60% of dollar volume; cap rates settled at 6.7%, 60 bps inside the US benchmark.
By Submarket
Fort Lauderdale’s eight industrial submarkets tell the vintage story clearly. Pompano Beach and Southeast Broward together hold roughly 48% of metro inventory and the bulk of active construction; Southeast Broward is the tightest at 5.7% and leads on rent, while West Sunrise carries the most slack at 9.7%.
| Submarket | Vacancy | Asking Rent / SF | 12-Mo Net Absorption |
|---|---|---|---|
| Southeast Broward | 5.7% | $22.48 | (63K SF) |
| Coral Springs | 6.1% | $20.69 | 11K SF |
| Central Broward | 6.9% | $21.13 | (274K SF) |
| Southwest Broward | 7.1% | $20.42 | (29K SF) |
| Northeast Broward | 8.1% | $19.50 | (139K SF) |
| Pompano Beach | 8.3% | $19.40 | (358K SF) |
| West Sunrise | 9.7% | $20.50 | (276K SF) |
| Outlying Broward | — | $29.54 | <1K SF |
| Metro overall | 7.3% | $20.69 | (1.13M SF) |
Asking rent in $/SF NNN; net absorption trailing 12 months, negatives in parentheses. Where you sit drives the rate — Southeast Broward leads at $22.48; Pompano Beach trails at $19.40 (Outlying Broward is a de-minimis outlier).
Capital Markets
Capital re-engaged at scale — and at a premium. Fort Lauderdale industrial sales volume reached $2.2 billion over the trailing twelve months, more than double the ten-year average near $1.0 billion. Pricing at $260 per square foot sits well above the ~$161 US average, while cap rates near 6.7% hold 60 basis points inside the national 7.3% benchmark.
National buyers drove the tape — Kurv, Blackstone, CenterPoint, Granite REIT, and EQT all stepping in at scale. The Bridge Point Powerline trade (Morgan Stanley → CenterPoint at $266/SF) nearly doubled basis over a six-year hold. Private buyers represented roughly 60% of dollar volume, with institutional capital another third. The premium has held through a 180 bps move in vacancy — a signal that capital views the South Florida basis as defensible even with availability elevated.
From the Principals
What we’re seeing on the ground — beyond the tape.
“Fort Lauderdale’s vacancy is a vintage story, not a demand story.”
The headline 7.3% vacancy is the highest in over a decade — but it’s not uniform. Buildings built before 2000 are 3.3% vacant; product completed since 2015 sits near 19.5%, and buildings delivered in the past five years are closer to 35%. That’s the entire vacancy story: speculative new supply outrunning absorption while well-located older product continues to lease. For investors, the basis play is in functional infill, not in chasing the newest big-box. With the pipeline running below the 10-year average and demolitions taking ~1M SF of obsolete product offline since 2021, we expect headline vacancy to stabilize near 7% by year-end.
— Matthew L. Phillips, SIOR · Principal · (561) 621-5466 · Matt@IronmarkCRE.com
“The premium hasn’t moved — and national capital noticed.”
Fort Lauderdale industrial trades at $260/SF; the US average is $161. Cap rates sit at 6.7% here versus 7.3% nationally. That premium has held through a 180 bps move in vacancy, which tells you how capital is underwriting South Florida fundamentals. Volume of $2.2B over the past twelve months is more than double the 10-year average. Roughly 77% of buying came from out-of-market national capital — Kurv, Blackstone, CenterPoint, Granite REIT, EQT — all in at scale. Morgan Stanley’s Bridge Point Powerline exit to CenterPoint at $266/SF nearly doubled basis on a six-year hold. The signal: institutional capital sees the basis as defensible even with vacancy elevated.
— Troy Schaafsma, SIOR · Principal · (561) 621-5489 · Troy@IronmarkCRE.com
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Ironmark Florida Industrial Brief — Fort Lauderdale Edition, Vol. I, No. I (Inaugural Issue). This brief is Ironmark Capital Advisory’s own analysis and commentary, current as of 2Q 2026; it is informational and not tax, legal, or investment advice. © 2026 Ironmark Capital Advisory.