I’ve been in the commercial real estate game for a long time, but I still get excited when a new project opens down here in South Florida because it speaks to the continued resilience and prosperity of the area.
And this was very evident recently at the grand opening of Liberty Property Trust’s new Building A at the company’s Miami International Tradeport. I covered the event live and interviewed many of the Liberty execs involved.
Andy Petry, vice president, said Liberty Property Trust, like many institutional real estate players, sees South Florida as a region having great fundamentals. It’s a great place to live and work, and it has excellent trade relationships and infrastructure.
Petry said the company has been in South Florida for nearly 20 years, but Miami International Tradeport is the first foray into Miami-Dade County.
“We were really excited about the opportunity to get down here, expand our industrial footprint, and address the needs in the marketplace,” he said.
Miami International Tradeport, 11455 NW 122nd Street, is 124 acres and has room for up to 1.8 million square feet of space, Petry said. Building A is 147,840 square feet, but Liberty can build as large as 500,000 square feet.
The company is ideally situated, he said, to take advantage of expansion at the Port of Miami.
“I believe there is continued demand for high-efficiency distribution space. Our product is delivered to handle a tenant from 22,000 feet to 500,000 feet. The port expansion does nothing but add benefits throughout the marketplace,” Petry said.
Suzi Ford, senior property manager, is in charge of making sure the tenants are happy and that their occupancy costs are as low as possible.
She said, “We’re here to help make the tenants feel at home every day, and hopefully they understand that what is important to them is important to us.”
Millie Munoz, property manager and a 12-year market veteran, said the facility is designed to meet LEED certification and offers energy-efficient lighting, low-flow toilets, and other features designed to keep occupancy costs as low as possible.
Steve Rowley, director of leasing in South Florida, said the building has been well-received by the South Florida brokerage community. The Building A exterior has been specifically designed to reflect the Miami ambiance, he said, unlike many industrial properties.
“We think of our tenants as customers – and, obviously, the people who pay our bills – so we want to take care of them,” he said. “We try to meet the market and deliver to our customers exactly what they’re looking for.”
Click here to listen to the full broadcast from Liberty Property Trust’s Miami International Tradeport.
