A strong performance in the South Florida industrial sector during Covid-19 didn’t fully translate to new milestones in the market’s top sales.
The largest industrial sale of 2020, valued at $94 million, still fell below the biggest deals of 2019 and 2018, of $178 million and $180 million, respectively, according to an analysis by The Real Deal.
Fordome Investment Group, a real estate investment firm led by Kristopher Rodriguez, sold the 2.2-acre site at 9800 N.W. 87th Ave. for $3.3 million to GPT NW 87th Avenue Owner LLC, part of the industrial arm of Blackstone. It was used for automobile storage.
Malcolm Butters’ firm has been building industrial properties in South Florida for about 30 years. But the last three or four of those years have been nothing like what came before.
Companies such as Butters Construction have been forced to adapt to changes within an industrial market that has seen a massive influx of institutional capital from the likes of Blackstone and Prologis. Thanks to the rise of Amazon and e-commerce, these firms — especially Blackstone, which has north of $500 billion in assets under management — are paying top dollar for institutional properties.
That makes it difficult for smaller players like Butters to compete for deals to buy and develop new properties, especially in a place with little land left to build.
