Florida CRE development and employment booming

The National Association of Industrial and Office Parks ranked Florida among the top five states in the nation for commercial real estate industry spending impact and the number of jobs the industry sustains.

The total impact — combining hard costs for materials, site selection and development and soft costs such as design fees — in Florida totaled $7.6 billion last year, slightly ahead of 2015 figures — when the state also ranked No. 5 in overall development in the U.S.

The Sunshine State's direct spending on commercial real estate was topped only by New York, at $24.8 billion; Texas, with $18.5 billion; California, at $14.3 billion; and Louisiana, with $9.9 billion, according to NAIOP's latest “Economic Impacts of Commercial Real Estate.”

The entire industry contributed $861 billion to the U.S. economy as a whole, and was responsible for 6.25 million jobs.

Perhaps not surprisingly, given Florida's place as the third most populous state behind only California and Texas, Florida ranked third nationwide for both warehouse and retail development, and No. 7 in total office construction and development.

Industrial space has been significantly on the rise along the Interstate 4 corridor, linking Tampa and Orlando, as e-commerce suppliers such as Amazon and more traditional retailers like Wal-Mart Stores inc., among others, have established massive fulfillment centers.