Industrial tenant representation in South Florida.

Industrial leases live or die on physical specs

Office tenants worry about rate. Retail tenants worry about traffic. Industrial tenants worry about whether the building can physically do the job. Clear height, dock door count and configuration, power capacity and service, column spacing, truck court depth, floor load capacity, and zoning — these are not negotiable line items in a lease. They're building constraints that either work or they don't.

Justin's industrial representation starts before rate is ever discussed. If the physical building can't run your operation at scale, the deal shouldn't proceed regardless of how good the rent looks.

What Justin evaluates on every industrial deal

Physical building specifications

• Clear height (critical for racking and vertical storage). 24' minimum for modern distribution. 32'+ for high-volume racking. 40' clear is becoming standard in new-construction logistics product.
• Dock doors — dock-high vs grade-level, count per square foot, positioning (cross-dock vs rear-load), dock levelers, seals.
• Truck court depth — 130' minimum for 53' trailer turning. 180'+ for maneuverability with drop trailers.
• Power capacity — amps, voltage, three-phase availability. Undersized power kills manufacturing and data-heavy operations. Power upgrades are expensive and slow to permit in South Florida.
• Column spacing and floor load — relevant for racking layout and heavy equipment.
• Zoning — M-1 vs M-2 vs IL. Your operation needs to match the underlying zoning exactly. Non-conforming uses trigger code enforcement.
• Parking ratios — particularly important for flex space with office component.

Lease-specific negotiation points

• Triple net (NNN) cost structure. Industrial is almost universally NNN. CAM caps, tax pass-through structure, insurance gross-ups all need to be controlled.
• Rent and rate structure. Industrial rates in South Florida have been pushed dramatically since 2020. Current Class A logistics product in Medley and Miami Lakes is $14–$18/SF NNN; older product in Pompano runs $10–$14/SF NNN.
• TI allowance. Warehouse TI is typically low ($3–$15/SF) because there's not much to build. Office TI within the warehouse (showrooms, executive offices) is negotiated separately.
• Operational rights. 24/7 operation rights, exterior storage rights, truck parking, loading procedures — all need to be explicitly granted.
• Environmental. Prior use disclosures, indemnification for pre-existing contamination, Phase I/II requirements. Critical for industrial users coming into older buildings.
• Expansion and contraction rights. ROFR on adjacent space. Right to terminate if business needs change.
• Personal guaranty structure. Same playbook as office — push to good guy guaranty, rolling burn-off, or capped dollar amount.

South Florida industrial submarkets

Common mistakes industrial tenants make

• Touring without a rep. Listing brokers show you what's on their list, not what fits your operation. A tenant rep runs the full market including off-market and sublet opportunities.
• Not verifying power capacity in writing. "There's 800 amps" from a listing broker means nothing. Get it in writing from the landlord, tied to the lease.
• Overlooking truck court and trailer parking. A building with five docks but no space to stage 53' trailers is operationally useless for distribution.
• Accepting undefined TI. "Landlord to deliver in broom-swept condition" is not a TI commitment. Delivery condition should specify dock levelers, HVAC (if applicable), paint, signage, lighting.
• Ignoring environmental history. Older industrial sites have environmental baggage. Phase I environmental reports and landlord indemnification are non-negotiable for any tenant with a risk profile.

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