As a commercial real estate professional who has worked for decades in South Florida, I was particularly pleased to host three commercial real estate industry veterans on my show to discuss our local infrastructure, as well as the industrial and apartment development landscape in South Florida.
John Dohm, SIOR, CCIM, CFP, is a partner at Infinity Commercial Real Estate and has been a licensed real estate broker for over 25 years. He also is one of less than 875 people globally to hold both the SIOR (Society of Industrial and Office Realtors) and CCIM (Certified Commercial Institute Member) designations. The importance of South Florida’s airports and seaports can’t be underestimated, he first noted, as they are the region’s driving economic engines. He added that these vital components of our community’s infrastructure are creating a robust industrial development opportunity, as the region is seeing occupancy and rental rates booming in the industrial sector.
We also talked about how the increasing traffic is helping to hasten the trend of population concentration in urban centers. He laid a great foundation for my next guests when he discussed how people are choosing units in apartment projects that allow them to live and work in the same neighborhood. Callum Parrott, executive managing director at Mill Creek Residential, and Jay Jacobson. president of Stiles Residential Group, both had some very interesting thoughts to share on rental apartment development trends such as this.
They both agree that South Florida is rapidly running out of places to develop new apartment projects. The suburban locations that were the focus of past development cycles are becoming scarce. A number of communities are developing “town-centers” that are seeking to incorporate residential communities similar to Mizner Park in Boca Raton and Downtown Dadeland.
It’s hard to make the numbers work for apartment development currently without having significant density. The trend towards developing an urban downtowns like the central business district of Fort Lauderdale and Miami offers a good example of what we can expect to see more of in the future.
Apartments are enjoying high occupancy and increasing rental rates, so they are offering steady returns. Institutions and high net worth investors alike are flocking to local apartment investment opportunities. Therefore, it’s no surprise that the equity partners who Callum and Jay work with have an “insatiable appetite” for new projects in South Florida.
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