Palm Beach Remains the Market to Press Hardest — and the Construction Pipeline Just Collapsed

Of the three South Florida industrial submarkets, Palm Beach remains the one where we would be most skeptical of landlord asking prices — and this week’s numbers reinforce exactly why.

Flat rents, elevated availability

CBRE reports 8.0% vacancy, 9.0% availability, and average asking rent of $13.98/SF — essentially flat quarter over quarter despite being 7% higher year over year. That combination (a strong year-over-year number masking a flat recent trend) is a pattern worth watching: it suggests rent growth already ran its course earlier in the year and has since stalled.

Colliers calculates somewhat different numbers — 7.5% vacancy and $15.60/SF NNN — but also recorded 171,261 SF of negative Q2 absorption. As with prior weeks, the datasets disagree on magnitude but agree on direction: demand is not currently outpacing supply in Palm Beach.

The construction pipeline has genuinely collapsed

The more structurally important number this week is construction. Palm Beach’s pipeline has fallen dramatically to approximately 799,000 SF, versus a 2.6 million-SF peak in 2023. That is a roughly 70% reduction from peak — a real signal that developers have pulled back meaningfully, not just paused.

A collapsing pipeline is normally the leading indicator of a market about to tighten. It doesn’t change today’s negotiating environment, but it is the number we’d watch most closely over the next several quarters — if demand stabilizes while new supply keeps shrinking this fast, Palm Beach’s tenant-favorable window has a shelf life.

What this means for our clients

For now, Palm Beach remains the county where we would press hardest for concessions on behalf of tenants — flat rents, negative absorption in at least one dataset, and 9.0% availability all support an aggressive negotiating posture today. But the construction pipeline collapse is the number that should inform anyone’s multi-year view: this window is unlikely to stay this favorable for tenants indefinitely, and owners holding through the current softness may be better positioned than the current numbers alone suggest.

Market commentary based on CBRE and Colliers reporting; not investment advice. Figures per market data for the week of August 24, 2026.