South Florida's Homestead submarket may be seeing a rise in Class A industrial development as demand for product continues to increase. The region has seen tremendous growth in population, commerce and infrastructure development and is located in an advantageous distribution point to service both Southern Miami-Dade County and the Florida Keys.

The area hasn't seen much industrial activity since the Great Recession as most developers focused on existing industrial markets such as Miami's Airport Industrial, Medley and the Miami's Northeast submarket areas. Over the last decade, Homestead has had significant housing development and the population is expected to grow 7.7% by 2023. This growth has spurred new businesses and infrastructure developments in the area and is feeding a strong demand for more distribution in the region.

Several large developments are already underway in Homestead, including the Southend Industrial Park at the Homestead Park of Commerce. The 117 acre planned site has zoning and entitlements allowing development of over 1.3 million square feet of industrial space, with multiple Class A buildings already being delivered. The project has leased to PepsiCo/Frito Lay as well as Goodman Distribution, a manufacturer of air conditioning and heating systems. FedEx has also recently moved into the area with a 15-year net lease at a brand new 237,756 square foot distribution facility located on a 48.9 acre site near the Air Reserve Base. In addition, Julio Gimenez, a son of Mayor Carlos Gimenez and a longtime construction executive, is pursuing 124 acres to build a $240 million eco-friendly steel mill in Homestead, the only market in our region that can accommodate a new project of this scale.

With less vacant land available for large scale industrial developments in other South Florida submarkets, Homestead is offering new opportunity for many developers to relieve the tight industrial demand.

Source: Globe St