Miami’s office market is healthy despite onslaught of new inventory

From left: 1450 Brickell, 600 Brickell and the Wells Fargo Financial Center

Downtown Miami’s office market was healthy in the fourth quarter, according to a report released by Transwestern cited by GlobeSt.com.

About 40,000 square feet of space was absorbed in the Central Business District, yielding a vacancy rate of 22 percent. Rents were about $41.24 per square-foot for Class A space and $26.10 for Class B buildings.

The modest vacancy rate doesn’t reflect the strength of the market, according to Walter Byrd, a managing director with the firm. “Considering the additions of three new buildings in the last year and a half, [there was a] fairly moderate vacancy rate in Class A products,” he said, referring to 1450 Brickell Avenue, 600 Brickell Avenue and the Wells Fargo Financial Center. “If you were to remove the new product out of stats, the vacancy rate is very healthy for this market.”

As a whole, Miami-Dade county had an office vacancy rate of 23 percent for Class A and 22.1 percent for Class B space, with rental rates averaging $35.94 for the former and $24.07 for the latter.[GlobeSt]