Port St. Lucie, Florida Industrial Market Report
Market Overview
Port St. Lucie is a moderately sized industrial hub, boasting a combined inventory of slightly more than 26 million square feet, situated north of Palm Beach County and south of Melbourne. The market’s proximity to major highways and ports enhances accessibility, making it an attractive destination for commerce. According to Oxford Economics, the Port St. Lucie economy expanded by 2.4% in 2022 and is anticipated to see a 2.5% growth by the end of 2023. It is also projected to maintain an approximate annual growth rate of around 2.0% from 2024 to 2027.
Highlights
- Vacancy rates in Port St. Lucie are increasing due to the recent addition of 3 million square feet of new industrial space within the past year.
- The Martin Inland region has been witnessing the most rapid rate of rent increases. Interestingly, this area also possesses one of the smallest inventories of available properties.
- Over 75% of all new industrial space under construction is concentrated in the Fort Pierce and St. Lucie Inland submarkets, which have also demonstrated the most robust net absorption in the last 12 months.
Rents | Vacancy | Construction
Rent growth reached a peak of more than 12% in annual growth in Q3 2022 but has tempered since then to its current rate of 9.2% as of Q4 2023.
The Port St. Lucie rent growth rate continues to outpace both the national average and the industrial markets in neighboring Melbourne and Palm Beach County. The rent growth is expected to decline to around 8.0% before the end of 2023. Following the delivery of three million square feet of new industrial space in the last year, vacancy in Port St Lucie is on the rise and is currently 12.6%. Port St Lucie is experiencing a surge in new industrial supply, with 6.2 million square feet of new industrial space under construction as of Q4 2023, and a total of five million square feet is expected to be delivered by the end of 2023.
Sales
Port St. Lucie, by the Numbers Last 12 Months
Source: CoStar Group
- Vacancy Rate: 12.6%
- Net Absorption SF: 134K
- Deliveries SF: 3M
- Rent Growth: 9.3%
- Sales Volume: $120M
Investment sales activity has been significant, with $120 million in industrial properties changing hands in the last 12 months, with just over $90 million of that occurring in the first nine months of 2023. The largest transaction in the last 12 months was in January 2023, when Atlanta-based Truist sold a 411,852-square foot distribution building in the St Lucie Inland area to Utah-based Bridge Investment Group for $39.2 million, $95 per square foot.
