Honest insights for buying, selling, and leasing industrial property in Central Florida.
Written by the brokers at Orlando Industrial Real Estate, a Central Florida brokerage that works only in industrial property — warehouse, flex, small-bay, distribution, manufacturing, outdoor storage and industrial land across Orange, Seminole, Osceola, Lake and Polk counties. Every guide here is written from deals we have actually worked, in the submarkets we cover: Orlando Central Park, Silver Star, Taft, Apopka, Sanford, Winter Garden, Kissimmee and the I‑4 corridor. If a guide gives a number, we sourced it. If a question isn't answered here, ask us and it usually becomes the next article.
How much square footage you actually need, what clear height and door type your operation requires, and what a Central Florida lease will really cost once CAM, taxes and insurance are in it.
What drives rent and vacancy in small-bay and flex product, which capital items tenants actually price in, and how to read an offer before you counter it.
Owning versus leasing on the same building, SBA 504 and 7(a) mechanics, zoning and use verification, and the diligence items that kill industrial deals late.
Where Central Florida industrial cap rates sit, how 1031 exchanges and step‑up basis work in practice, and how to underwrite rent growth without believing your own spreadsheet.
For Tenants & Space Seekers
The full walk‑through of leasing industrial space in Central Florida: sizing the space to your inventory and equipment, choosing between grade‑level and dock‑high loading, weighing location against transportation access, and what actually goes into the cost beyond the base rate. It closes on the two things tenants skip — evaluating the landlord or management company, and negotiating terms that leave you room to grow.
For Landlords & Owners
Metal and TPO compared on the four things that decide a small‑bay roof in Florida: service life, maintenance burden, energy performance and installed cost. Metal runs past 30 years with less upkeep; TPO costs less up front and reflects more heat, but you are replacing it in 15 to 20.
For Tenants & Space Seekers
Dock‑high doors sit 48 to 52 inches off grade and exist to move trailer freight fast; grade‑level doors sit on the slab and exist to drive equipment in and out. Which one a building has narrows your options more than square footage does, so this covers who each configuration actually suits.
For Tenants & Space Seekers
The three Ns are property taxes, insurance and common area maintenance, billed on top of base rent and apportioned to your share of the building. The part most tenants miss is the CAM cap — a ceiling on how much the controllable expenses can rise each year, and the reason your budget survives year three.
For Investors & Capital Partners
A Section 1031 exchange defers capital gains when you trade one investment property for another like‑kind property, but it runs on two clocks that do not stop: 45 days to identify and 180 days to close. This covers the qualified intermediary's role, the discipline the timeline demands, and how step‑up basis carries the deferral to your heirs.
For Tenants & Space Seekers
Sizing space to your inventory and equipment, grade‑level versus dock‑high loading, location against transportation access, and the real cost of a Central Florida industrial lease beyond the base rate — plus how to evaluate the landlord before you sign.
Nothing matches that yet. Ask us the question directly and we'll answer it — most of the guides here started as a question from a client.
We are brokers before we are writers. If you are weighing a specific building, a specific lease or a specific number, the fastest answer is a phone call — and the question often becomes the next article on this page.
Orlando Industrial Real Estate LLC
407-205-8557
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