Report: Sarasota industrial space vacancy rates reach 8-year high

The Sarasota and Fort Myers industrial space markets, long a rising star in commercial real estate, have begun to slide backward, according to a new report looking at 2024 first quarter data. 

The report, from Chris DiBitetto, managing broker of The Eres Cos.’ Sarasota office, highlights what he calls “the notable gap between supply and demand in Sarasota's industrial real estate market.” (Eres has nine offices worldwide, including locations in New York City; Denver; Bozeman, Montana; and Argentina.) 

To wit, there were 1.6 million square feet of industrial space delivered in the past year in Sarasota with 470,000 square feet absorbed. That’s a vacancy rate of 3.7% — the highest in eight years, the report states, and up from 1.8% in the 2023 first quarter.