Industrial developers across South Florida are putting their shovels down. The construction pipeline for Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade counties has fallen to 3 million square feet at the end of the third quarter, down 42% from 5.2 million a year earlier, according to Colliers reports cited at Bisnow's Florida Industrial and Manufacturing Conference on Tuesday.
The county breakdown: Miami-Dade's pipeline shrank from 3M to 1.8M sq ft, Broward's from 1.4M to 994K, and Palm Beach's from 735K to 277K. Developers blame construction costs of roughly $350 per square foot, elevated interest rates, power-supply shortages that delay tenants, and rents that have plateaued — tenants are balking at the $23 net per sq ft developers say new projects need, versus the $16–18 tri-county average. Some companies are moving operations north to cheaper markets like Orlando.
Why it matters: Construction and logistics are major local employers — a sustained pullback affects jobs, while the flip side is that existing warehouse space stays in demand. If you lease industrial space, the plateau in rents may give you negotiating room at renewal.
