Miami’s Office Vacancy Slips

As of May, Miami’s office vacancy hit 13.1 percent, down 280 basis point year-over-year, according to CommercialEdge data. The national average vacancy rate clocked in at 15.4 percent that month, virtually unchanged year-over-year.

The Florida metro registered one of the largest drops in vacancy on a year-over-year basis across all markets and the largest among gateway cities. The Bay Area (-210 basis points), Boston (-210 basis points) and Washington, D.C. (-140 basis points) were also among those markets that saw office vacancies decrease through the past year.

Prices are also up in Miami: the average listing rate reached $47.1 in May, up 8.8 percent year-over-year—the third largest increase across all U.S. metros, only trailing Charlotte (14.3 percent) and Boston (9.8 percent).

Some of the most significant lease agreements signed in May included medical research company Evolution Research Group signing a full-building commitment at Quattro Miami, a four-building Class A office park in Miami’s Airport West submarket. Quattro East, the building the new tenant will occupy, totals 75,000 square feet of Class A space.

Later that month, tech company Kaseya inked a 42,872-square-foot lease at Gatsby Florida’s 800 Brickell property. The new tenant will occupy the top three floors of the Class A property.

Brickell is one of the most popular choices for office tenants in the metro, reaching a 7.2 percent vacancy rate in May. Aventura (4.2 percent), Dadeland (7.2 percent) and Miami Gardens are the submarkets with the smallest vacancy rates, while Miami Beach (18.0 percent), Airport South (17.7 percent), Coral Gables–Downtown (17.4 percent) and Miami North (22.8 percent) are on the other side of the spectrum.

CommercialEdge covers 8M+ property records in the United States. View the latest CommercialEdge national monthly office report here.