When an institutional buyer considers your Florida industrial property, an analyst underwrites it — a disciplined process that turns a building into a defensible number before anyone wires a dollar. Ironmark runs that same underwrite for you, from your side of the table: three valuation approaches, a live read on who’s actually buying, and a defensible range — conservative to opportunistic — instead of a false-precision guess. It’s the Property Positioning Analysis: free, confidential, no listing pitch. Most owners who request one aren’t selling — they just want to know exactly where they stand, and every option that number opens.
How a Real Valuation Is Built
Price per square foot is where amateurs start and stop. A real valuation is an underwrite — the same rigor a professional buyer applies before they commit. Here’s what that actually involves, in plain English:
1. What the building earns today — and what it could. We start with your income: every lease, its rent, escalations, expirations, and the credit of who’s paying. Then we mark it to market. The gap between what you collect today and what comparable space leases for now is often where hidden value lives — below-market rent isn’t a problem, it’s upside a buyer will pay for. Current Florida asking rents anchor that comparison:
| Market | Asking rent ($/SF NNN) | Source |
|---|---|---|
| South Florida | $15.98–$17.34 by county | Miami-Dade $17.04 / Broward $17.34 / Palm Beach $15.98 (Colliers, Q1 2026) |
| Tampa | $12.69 | All-industrial basis (Matthews, Q1 2026) |
| Orlando | $10.01–$11.93 | Sources differ; CBRE reports +12.4% YoY (CBRE / JLL) |
| Jacksonville | $10.11 | Matthews, Q1 2026 |
2. What that income is worth to a buyer. Net operating income divided by a market cap rate is the foundation of value. The lower the cap rate, the more each dollar of your income is worth — and stronger assets in stronger submarkets earn the lowest caps. Which rate applies to your income depends on the drivers further down this page:
| Market | Cap rate | Source |
|---|---|---|
| South Florida | 5.4%–6.3% | Matthews / Colliers, Q1 2026 (surveys differ by methodology) |
| Tampa | 7.6% average | Matthews, Q1 2026 |
| Jacksonville | 7.0% | Matthews, Q4 2025 |
| National benchmark | 6.2% | First American, Q4 2025 |
3. What happens over time. For anything beyond a simple single-tenant building, we build a multi-year discounted-cash-flow model — projecting contractual rent bumps, what happens when each lease rolls (downtime, re-leasing cost, new market rent), and a sale at the end — then discount it all back to today’s dollars. This is how real buyers test a deal, and it’s exactly where a static “price per foot” falls apart.
4. A reality check from the market. We anchor the model against what comparable Florida industrial has actually traded for — adjusted for the attributes that make your building different — and check replacement cost and land value, which set a floor and reveal when your parcel is worth more as land or an outdoor-storage yard than as-is. Recent proof of the ceiling:
| Trade | Size / Price | $/SF |
|---|---|---|
| Royal Palm Doral (Terreno ← Blackstone), Sept 2025 | 346K SF — $130.7M | $378 |
| Countyline East, Hialeah (user buyer), 2025 | $52.9M | $309 |
| Miramar / Dania (Ares), Apr 2025 | 457K SF — $120.5M | $263 |
| Beacon Logistics, Hialeah, Mar 2025 | 226,698 SF — $58.9M | $260 |
| Deerfield Beach (RNDC), 2026 | 440,700 SF — $84.1M | $191 |
5. Then we stress-test it into a range. No honest valuation is a single number. We flex the cap rate and rent assumptions to show you how your value moves if the market does — and we run highest-and-best-use (as-is, repositioned, or redeveloped), because sometimes the most valuable version of your property isn’t the one standing today.
6. And we layer the one thing a spreadsheet can’t hold.
What Actually Moves Your Number
These are the inputs that decide which cap rate and which comps apply to your building — and the ones you should watch, because they swing value far more than raw square footage:
- Clear height — the single biggest lever in modern industrial. One Palm Beach County example: comparable space at 24′ clear leased around $23/SF versus $19/SF at 16′ — roughly a 21% premium; 36′ product typically leases 15–25% above lower-clear stock (broker estimates).
- Loading & truck court — dock-high doors and a 130–180′ truck court are what separate institutional-grade product from everything else, and buyers price accordingly.
- Power — heavy three-phase service expands your buyer pool to manufacturers and users who can’t occupy without it. No clean published premium exists, but ask any manufacturer who lost a building for lack of it.
- Excess land & yard — usable surplus land is often an unmodeled asset hiding on your site. Outdoor storage now runs ~2.5% vacancy versus 6.7% for traditional industrial, with rents up +123% since 2020 — that land can be an appraisal line-item or a second income stream (see our Florida IOS overview).
- Tenancy & term — credit quality, remaining lease term, and escalations decide which cap rate the market applies to your income, and therefore what your building is worth to an investor versus an owner-user.
Every Decision a Valuation Unlocks
A current, defensible value isn’t a selling document — it’s the input to nearly every major decision an owner faces:
- Exit & disposition. Know your realistic range and walk-away number before you list, so you can time the market and negotiate from data instead of hope. Plan on roughly 8 months on market plus 60–90 days to close for a conventional process; a targeted off-market approach can run faster.
- Refinance & underwriting. Your lender will order an appraisal, and that number can quietly cap your proceeds. Go in with your own defensible underwrite — support a higher basis, catch a light appraisal, and structure the request around a value you can stand behind.
- Sale-leaseback. If your business owns the building it operates from, a sale-leaseback lets you sell the real estate to an investor and simultaneously sign a long-term lease to stay in place — converting up to 100% of your trapped equity into cash while keeping full operational control. Because the buyer is really buying your lease, the rate, term, and escalations you sign directly set the price — so structuring the leaseback well is itself a value lever. It’s a powerful way to fund growth, buy out a partner, or retire debt without moving an inch. We model the structure to maximize your net; your CPA weighs the tax and accounting.
- 1031 exchange. The exchange runs on a clock, and the math starts with your disposition value. Know it before you sell and you can line up the right replacement asset and leverage into something larger or better-located instead of scrambling inside the identification window. We handle the real estate; your QI handles the mechanics (see 1031 exchange advisory).
- Estate & legacy planning. A documented, defensible value of the real estate is what your CPA and estate attorney need to plan gifting, family or partnership buyouts, and basis strategy. We provide the valuation and market context; your advisors structure the plan.
- Hold, optimize, or refinance-and-hold. Often the analysis says do nothing yet — or make one improvement that moves the number more than a sale would net. That’s a real answer, and we’ll tell you when it’s the right one.
What You Actually Receive
A Property Positioning Analysis is a working document, not a teaser:
- The asset, read honestly — zoning, usable versus gross land, improvement condition, environmental and site constraints, and any value hiding in excess land
- A defensible value range — conservative, most-likely, and opportunistic — with the model shown: the approaches we weighted, the comps we used, and the scenarios behind each end of the band
- The live-demand read — who is buying assets like yours right now, and what that means for pricing and timing
- Your options, laid out — optimize, refinance, sale-leaseback, hold, sell, or 1031, with the trade-offs of each for your specific situation
Where It Fits Against an Appraisal
Owners often ask whether they need an appraisal instead. Usually not — the two answer different questions:
| Broker Opinion of Value (our PPA) | Certified Appraisal | |
|---|---|---|
| Purpose | Your decision — exit, refinance, sale-leaseback, 1031, estate, hold | The lender’s file for a specific loan |
| Orientation | Forward-looking; what motivated buyers will pay | Backward-looking; USPAP methodology on closed comps |
| Cost | Free | $2,500–$3,500 typical; MAI $4,000–$10,000 |
| When you need it | Any time you’re making a decision | When a lender requires one — federally related CRE transactions over $500K (FIRREA); a BOV is never accepted for loan origination |
Plain English: deciding? Start with our underwrite, free. Borrowing? Your lender will order the appraisal — and our number helps you go in ready for it.
Get the number that’s actually yours.
Tell us about your property and we’ll underwrite it — a defensible value range, the model behind it, a read on who’s buying, and every option it opens. Free, confidential, prepared by SIOR-designated principals. Most owners who request one aren’t selling — they want to know where they stand.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you value an industrial property?
The same way an institutional buyer underwrites one: three approaches cross-checked into a single defensible range. The income approach capitalizes your net operating income at a market cap rate (and, for anything beyond a simple single-tenant building, runs a multi-year discounted-cash-flow model of rent bumps, lease rollovers, and a sale at the end). The sales-comparison approach adjusts recent comparable trades to your specific building. The cost approach checks replacement cost and land value as a floor. We then stress-test across cap-rate and rent scenarios to produce a conservative-to-opportunistic range.
What is my warehouse worth per square foot in Florida?
Recent Florida industrial has traded from a record ~$115/SF in Jacksonville and ~$154/SF in Tampa to a record $257/SF average in Miami-Dade and $378/SF for institutional Doral product (Matthews / Avison Young / The Real Deal, Q4 2025–Q1 2026). But price per square foot is an output, not a method — your building's number depends on its income, clear height, loading, power, land, and tenancy. A parcel-specific underwrite is the honest answer.
What is a good cap rate for Florida industrial in 2026?
Published Q1 2026 figures: South Florida 5.4%–6.3% (sources differ by methodology), Tampa ~7.6%, Jacksonville ~7.0%, against a 6.2% national benchmark (Q4 2025). A lower cap rate means each dollar of income is worth more — and the strongest assets in the strongest submarkets earn the lowest caps. CBRE's H2 2025 survey found rates past their peak, which is supportive of values.
What is a sale-leaseback, and is it right for me?
If your business owns the building it operates from, a sale-leaseback lets you sell the real estate to an investor and simultaneously sign a long-term lease to keep operating in place — converting up to 100% of your trapped equity into cash while retaining full operational control. Because the buyer is really buying your lease, the rate, term, and escalations you sign directly set the sale price, so structuring the leaseback well raises your proceeds. It's a common way to fund growth, buy out a partner, or retire debt. We model the structure to maximize your net; your CPA weighs the tax and accounting.
How is a broker valuation different from an appraisal?
An appraisal is a USPAP-governed, backward-looking report built for a lender — what your property was worth based on closed comps. A broker's underwrite is forward-looking and buyer-driven: what the market will actually pay next, informed by who is bidding on assets like yours right now, on- and off-market. Both have a place, but only one is built to help you make a decision, and only one is free.
Can I get an accurate value from an online estimator?
Not an accurate one — but a useful starting one. The range tool at the top of this page gives you a fast, honest ballpark from current market data. An accurate value, though, requires modeling attributes no calculator can see: clear height, power, dock and truck-court configuration, zoning, usable excess land, lease structure, and which buyers are active for your specific asset right now. That's the underwrite — and it's free.
What adds the most value to an industrial building?
Clear height is the single biggest lever — one published example shows ~21% more rent at 24' versus 16' clear, and 36' product typically leases 15–25% above lower-clear stock. After that: dock-high loading with a deep truck court, heavy three-phase power, usable excess land or yard, and credit tenancy on term. These are the inputs that decide which cap rate and which comps apply to your building.
Do I need a valuation if I'm not planning to sell?
Most owners who request ours aren't selling. A current, defensible value is the input to nearly every major decision: refinancing (know your number before the lender's appraiser sets your ceiling), a sale-leaseback (unlock equity while staying in place), a 1031 exchange (model your equity and debt-replacement before the clock starts), estate and legacy planning, and the simple hold-or-optimize question.
How does a valuation help with a refinance?
Your lender will order a certified appraisal, and that number can quietly cap your proceeds. Going in with your own defensible underwrite lets you support a higher basis, spot an appraisal that came in light, and structure the loan request around a value you can actually defend — instead of learning your ceiling after the fact.
How does a valuation support a 1031 exchange?
A 1031 runs on a clock, and the math that governs it — how much equity you're working with and how much debt you must replace — starts with your disposition value. Knowing that number before you sell lets you line up the right replacement asset and leverage into something larger or better-located with confidence. We handle the real-estate side; your qualified intermediary handles the exchange mechanics (see our 1031 exchange advisory).
Can I use a broker valuation for estate or legacy planning?
Yes, as decision intelligence. A documented, defensible value of the real estate is what your CPA and estate attorney need to plan gifting, family or partnership buyouts, and basis strategy. We provide the valuation and market context; your tax and legal advisors structure the plan. This is informational, not tax or legal advice.
What does it cost, how long does it take, and is it confidential?
It's free — brokers prepare opinions of value to earn relationships, with no obligation and no listing pitch. A working valuation typically comes back within days, depending on complexity and lease detail. Everything you share, and the analysis itself, is strictly confidential — held between you and the two principals who prepare it.
Market data cited on this page: Matthews Q1 2026 reports (South Florida, Tampa, Jacksonville); Avison Young Miami industrial report; Colliers Q1 2026 county reports; CBRE and JLL Orlando figures; CBRE H2 2025 cap-rate survey; First American Q4 2025; Crexi national time-on-market data; The Real Deal 2025 sale records; Northmarq / CRE-industry IOS data. Clear-height figures are broker estimates; appraisal threshold per FIRREA (federally related CRE transactions over $500,000). Market data as of Q1 2026 unless noted; refreshed quarterly. This page is informational and does not constitute tax, legal, or appraisal advice; work with your CPA, attorney, and a certified appraiser where those are required.