John Dunphy, Sky Groden, Wilson McDowell, Luke Pope, Brian Smith and Matt Sullivan

It’s no secret that throughout the country, the industrial real estate market is on fire, and continues to break records. In Florida, the JLL industrial team — whose work spans across the whole state focusing primarily on four key markets: South FL, Tampa, Orlando and Jacksonville — had a very productive 2021, completing nearly 670 transactions totaling more than 81 million square feet and over $2.6 billion.

Last year, in the Tampa Bay area the JLL team was brought on to market a one-million-square-foot distribution project in Lakeland, CenterState Logistics Park East. From its highly visible site fronting on I-4, it allows distribution to 15.5 million people within a four-hour drive. It is situated near Exit 38 on the interstate route to Florida’s Turnpike, Orlando and Tampa International Airports and the CSX Intermodal Center. Other campuses directly south of the park include Florida Polytechnic University, the Supply Chain and Logistics Institute of Polk State Corporate College, Sun Trax and Adventist Health.

Meanwhile slightly further east, the JLL team coordinated the sale of Access Park, a 450,000-square-foot industrial park in Orlando on behalf of long-time client Blue Steel Development LLC.

Down South in Miami, JLL was retained by Pas Cargo USA, a 20-year Miami-based logistics firm veteran, to help expand the company’s operations in one of the city’s most desirable industrial submarkets, Hialeah Gardens. JLL assisted the company in finding a space that would accommodate an additional 45,000 square feet, which increased Pas Cargo’s footprint to 165,000 square feet and highlighted continued and consistent growth in the industry.