The type of flex space he had done in Pittsburgh could be found in larger Florida cities like Tampa and Miami. But not in Naples.
“I checked out 13 different properties and I couldn’t find one of them that was similar to what I was building up north for 30 years,” Bill Corace tells Globe.St.com.
Corace was doing flex space projects in Pennsylvania when his brother Dick, also a developer, asked him to look at the Naples market in southwest Florida. Dick Corace was somewhat of an innovator himself: among his local projects in Florida was a condo development known as Kalea Bay, which featured an unusual fourth bedroom for use as a home office or den.
The Corace brother’s 250-page market study was done three years ago. The result was a first for the area: BizPark. It was an immediate success.
It’s 40,000 square feet of space in three buildings. “We call it high-end flex space,” Corace says. The buildings attract tenants who want just that: flex space for class A offices with combination showrooms or storage or assembly sectors or other areas.
Flexible Space Increments of 800 Square Feet
Single suites are 1,682 SF, but they can be combined for larger space needs. Spaces can be divided to as small as 800 SF or just about any combination in increments of 800 SF. All spaces are air conditioned and have their own bathrooms and HVAC controls.
Corace says it was also a surprise to him that similar projects could not be found in the Naples area, which is among the wealthiest areas in the state but only about one third the population of Tampa Bay.
The BizPark is getting rates of $22-26 per square foot, while light industrial is more like $12-15.
With his first project 85% leased, Corace is now looking at a new site near the Regional Southwest Airport in Fort Myers, about a 30-minute drive to Naples.
Source: GlobeSt.
Larry W. Genet is a Senior Vice President in the CBRE, Inc. Miami, FL office. As part of the CBRE platform Mr. Genet can provide a wide range of services from local to Fortune 1000 clients including agency and tenant representation, asset or portfolio management, high level logistics, labor and data analytics prior to site selection, project/construction management, capital markets, owner user sales and valuation advisory services. CBRE is the global leader for real estate services worldwide.
Larry has extensive experience in landlord agency, tenant representation, acquisitions, dispositions and property management. As a third-generation commercial real estate professional and South Florida native, Larry boasts deep community ties, an intimate knowledge of the South Florida market and numerous professional contacts. Larry’s leasing expertise of industrial, office, land, retail and medical properties coupled with his experience in acquisitions and dispositions gives him the ability to represent a myriad of clients in the South Florida market. Additionally, Larry controls a portfolio of 13.5 million square feet allowing him to see every deal in the market. This ensures his clients never miss an opportunity. His knowledge of tenants and buyers in the market is top notch and when coupled with his team's vast portfolio, it's a winning combination.
