Broward Industrial Market Update | August 2026

For the past several months, we have spent most of our ink on the office market, and for good reason. But office is not the only story in West Broward this year. While landlords in Plantation and Sawgrass Park have been working through a flight-to-quality office environment, the industrial market has been running its own, quieter story of adjustment.

The headline from the second quarter: after three straight quarters of negative net absorption, Broward’s industrial sector posted a positive quarter. Vacancy edged down slightly from the first quarter, though it remains well above where it stood a year ago. If you own, lease, or are considering industrial or flex space in West Broward, here is what the data says and what it means for your next move.

Industrial Demand Turns Positive, But the Picture Is Still Mixed

Broward County industrial vacancy stood at 6.2% in the second quarter of 2026, down 20 basis points from 6.4% in the first quarter, according to recent market data. That is the encouraging part. The less encouraging part: vacancy is still up 160 basis points year over year from 4.6% in the second quarter of 2025, and up roughly 330 basis points from the market’s 2.9% low in the second quarter of 2023.

Net absorption told a similar story of stabilization. After three consecutive negative quarters, including a loss of 138,000 square feet in the first quarter, the market absorbed a positive 245,000 square feet in the second quarter. For the first half of 2026 combined, net absorption landed at roughly 108,000 square feet, a meaningful reversal from the negative trend that defined most of 2025.

Availability, which includes space being marketed ahead of a lease expiration, tells tenants the fuller story. It rose to 9.9% in the second quarter, up 40 basis points from the first quarter and up 240 basis points from a year ago. So even with vacancy trending in the right direction, there is more space in the pipeline for tenants to negotiate against than the vacancy number alone suggests.

Leasing activity has been a bright spot throughout the year. The market recorded 1.6 million square feet of leasing volume in the second quarter, up 5.7% from the first quarter and up 35.7% year over year, on top of 1.5 million square feet leased in the first quarter. Combined, that puts first-half 2026 leasing volume above 3 million square feet, well ahead of last year’s pace.

Rents Continue to Climb Despite Rising Vacancy

One detail stands out in this cycle: asking rents have kept climbing even as vacancy has drifted higher. Industrial rents across Broward now average $17.58 per square foot NNN, up 0.6% from the first quarter and 6.9% year over year. Over the longer arc, average asking rent has nearly doubled from $8.95 per square foot in early 2019.

Rents vary meaningfully by submarket. Central Broward posted the highest average asking rate at $18.18 per square foot in the second quarter, followed by Southwest Broward at $17.70. Sunrise came in lowest at $16.38, with Coral Springs, Northeast Broward, Pompano/Lauderdale, and Southeast Broward clustered between $17.18 and $17.63.

Landlords holding the line on face rents while vacancy rises is not unusual in this kind of market. It often means the real negotiating room for tenants lives in concessions, free rent periods, and tenant improvement dollars rather than the quoted rate itself. For owners, that is worth keeping in mind heading into the back half of the year. For tenants, the headline rent may not tell the whole story of what is negotiable.

Investment Capital Is Still Active in Broward Industrial

Investment sales activity remains a signal worth watching, even with occupancy metrics mixed. Over the trailing 12 months, total industrial sales volume in the broader Fort Lauderdale market reached $2.7 billion, well above the 10-year average of $1.1 billion, according to CoStar data. Modeled cap rates have settled around 6.7%, and average pricing near $266 per square foot, both above national benchmarks.

Two of the larger trades to close in Broward this year illustrate that institutional appetite has not gone away. Kurv Industrial acquired the five-building, more than 800,000-square-foot Kurv Pompano portfolio in Pompano Beach from QuadReal in March 2026 for a combined $219.7 million. Separately, Blackstone closed on roughly $163 million in Broward industrial acquisitions across four properties over the trailing 12 months.

When institutional buyers write checks of that size into a submarket experiencing rising vacancy, it is usually a vote of confidence in where rents and occupancy are headed over the next several years, not just where they sit today.

What This Means for Owners and Tenants in West Broward

Plantation, Sawgrass Park, and the broader West Broward industrial corridor continue to benefit from direct access to Florida’s Turnpike, I-595, I-95, and Port Everglades, the kind of connectivity that keeps this submarket relevant regardless of where we are in the cycle. Small-bay warehouse and flex-industrial space in particular remains in demand from local and regional users who need proximity to South Florida’s population base without paying big-box logistics pricing.

Within Broward, conditions vary by submarket. Central Broward and Southwest Broward posted the lowest vacancy at 4.7% in the second quarter, while Pompano/Lauderdale posted the highest at 9.2% and also recorded the market’s steepest negative absorption, at negative 84,000 square feet. Location within the county matters more than ever right now.

Construction activity has moderated considerably, which should help the market continue absorbing existing supply. Under construction space totaled 1.2 million square feet in the second quarter, down 4.5% from the first quarter and down nearly 30% from a year ago.

Expert Advice for H2 2026

1. If you own industrial or flex space, protect your rent roll before you protect your rate. Rents have held up even as vacancy climbed, which suggests tenants are responding more to concessions and flexible terms than to discounted face rents. Structure deals accordingly.
2. If you are a tenant, do not assume the market has fully turned. Absorption went positive in the second quarter after three negative quarters, but availability is still rising. That combination usually means real leverage remains, at least for now.
3. Location within Broward matters. Submarkets like Central Broward and Southwest Broward are running at roughly half the vacancy rate of Pompano/Lauderdale. Owners and tenants should factor submarket-level performance into pricing and timing decisions rather than relying on the countywide average alone.
4. Watch the construction pipeline, not just vacancy. Under-construction volume is down nearly 30% year over year. Less new competition on the way generally works in favor of existing owners over the next 12 to 24 months.
5. If you are considering a sale, recent institutional activity, including Kurv Industrial’s and Blackstone’s acquisitions this year, shows serious capital is still underwriting Broward industrial assets despite softer occupancy metrics.

How CMV Commercial Helps

At CMV Commercial – The Martinez Team, we help landlords, tenants, investors, and business owners across Plantation, Sawgrass Park, West Broward, and the broader South Florida market make sense of moments like this one, when the data is genuinely mixed and the right move depends on your specific asset, timeline, and goals.

Whether you are evaluating a lease renewal, repositioning an industrial property, or considering a sale while investor demand remains active, our team combines local market knowledge with current data to help you make a decision you can stand behind.

Let’s Talk About Your Property

If you want a confidential read on how your industrial or flex property compares to current submarket trends, reach out. We are happy to walk through the numbers with you.

Phone: (954) 245-3899
Email: info@martinezteamcommercial.com
Website: MartinezTeamCommercial.com

Frequently Asked Questions

Is the Broward County industrial market recovering in 2026?
The signals are mixed but improving. Vacancy edged down to 6.2% in the second quarter of 2026 from 6.4% in the first quarter, and net absorption turned positive at 245,000 square feet after three consecutive negative quarters. Vacancy remains well above the 4.6% recorded a year earlier, so the recovery is still in its early stages.

Are industrial rents in Broward County still rising?
Yes. Asking rents reached $17.58 per square foot NNN in the second quarter of 2026, up 6.9% year over year. Rents have nearly doubled since early 2019, when the average stood at $8.95 per square foot.

Is now a good time to lease industrial space in West Broward?
Tenants still have meaningful leverage. Availability across the county rose to 9.9% in the second quarter, and that number has climbed for several consecutive quarters even as vacancy has stabilized. Submarkets like Pompano/Lauderdale currently offer more room to negotiate than tighter markets like Central and Southwest Broward.

What is driving investor interest in Broward industrial real estate?
Large 2026 transactions, including Kurv Industrial’s $219.7 million acquisition of the Kurv Pompano portfolio and Blackstone’s roughly $163 million in Broward industrial acquisitions, point to continued institutional confidence in the submarket’s long-term fundamentals.

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