Miami-Dade firms follow workers north to Broward offices

Brasfield & Gorrie is leaving a roughly 5,500 square foot office on Ponce de Leon Boulevard in Coral Gables for more than 19,000 square feet at Weston Pointe I, 2400 N. Commerce Parkway, in Broward County. The construction firm signed the lease in September and plans to move in by 2027, one of the clearest examples yet of a trend reshaping South Florida’s office map: Miami-Dade companies relocating north to Broward, chasing both cheaper rent and employees who already left Miami-Dade for housing in Broward and Palm Beach counties.

Why it matters

A single relocation is a data point. A rent gap this wide, paired with a named tenant acting on it, is a pattern. Miami-Dade’s office costs have climbed faster than Broward’s for several quarters, and firms with flexible headcount, like general contractors, are the first to test whether their workforce will follow them across the county line. If Brasfield & Gorrie’s move pencils out, more back-office and project-management tenants are likely to run the same math.

The numbers

Broward’s average triple-net office rent is $29.51 per square foot, versus $70.51 in Miami-Dade, according to Bisnow. Miami-Dade rent rose 13.3% year over year; Broward rose 6.5%, a slower climb even as it absorbs demand. Gus Martinez, managing director at CMV Commercial and president of the South Florida Office Brokers Association, told Bisnow: “Pricing in Dade County is anywhere from 10% to 30% higher than Broward County, so they’re just looking for the better deal.”

What’s next

Landlords and developers are positioning for more of this flow. Grover Corlew owns the 222,000 square foot Hillsboro Center office park in Deerfield Beach and the 21-story 200 East Broward tower in Fort Lauderdale, both assets that stand to gain if more Miami-Dade tenants head north. New supply is coming behind the demand: Hines and Urban Street Development are finishing T3 FAT Village, a 180,000 square foot, six-story office building in Fort Lauderdale’s Flagler Village, expected to deliver in the fourth quarter. Whether that supply gets absorbed quickly will be an early signal of how durable this South Florida migration really is.