Florida's Sunshine Grows Jobs

While the Sunshine State has been traditionally considered the home of citrus groves, "snowbird" tourists and theme parks, the percentage of high-wage jobs created throughout the state continues to improve, attracting the kind of visitors that stay for a while.
        Merck Medco, a prescription drug care firm, announced last fall it will open a customer care center in the Tampa area and will employ more than 1,000 new employees. Merck officials have been pleased with the local work force and decided on the expansion due to their local success.
        "The complexity of our business requires access to a high quality work force," adds Greg Hansen, vice president customer services Merck-Medco. "Tampa has continuously provided us with exceptional people to service our clients and their members at a level of excellence unsurpassed in the industry."
        Merck's employees are also affordable. According to the Mercer study, a job paying $60,000 at the national average would pay 3.5 percent less in the Tampa area. Tampa is also home to a growing high-tech community and local officials hope the quality of life will continue to bring high-skilled workers into the area. [See "Emerging High-Tech Clusters," p. 460.] Developers also report the availability of land for build-to-suit construction along the I-75 corridor. Grubb & Ellis reports office vacancy rates in the Tampa Bay area range from 13.4 percent in the CBD to 15.3 percent in suburban areas. Opportunities for lease concessions are available with rental rates ranging between $18.36 to $20.87 per square foot at the end of 2001.
        Miami's booming industrial markets are in the midst of a downturn since the prosperous early 1990s. The area's previous most active markets, Airport West and Northwest/Medly, are ex-pected to see rental rates decline in the industrial area by as much as 50 cents a square foot. These areas have previously seen prominent growth, but due to the struggling U.S. economy and the downturn in Latin American markets, vacancy rates are up.
        "We are seeing dramatic increases in vacancy rates, declines in demand and an overall trend of sublease space being available at rental rates substantially below the year before, and in some cases discounted as much as 50 percent from that rate that the primary tenant is paying," says Thomas Dixon, a commercial broker in Coral Gables.
        Reis reports an overall vacancy rate of 8.4 percent for year-end 2001 in the Miami industrial market sectors. Effective lease asking prices are between $5.57 and $5.44 per square foot. Vacancy rates for office space are up much higher -- above 12 percent. This may be due to the high number of casualties from Latin American firms located in the Miami area. Some brokers estimate that vacancy rates in the Miami sector may exceed 14 percent by year's end.

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