'Rising Coconut Grove office rental rates add to vacancies'

Coconut Grove continues to draw office tenants to the area. However, the rise in rental rates has led to increased vacancies.

"Overall, the market is still tight in comparison to the other submarkets," said Bert Checa, a principal at Lee and Associates South Florida. " It's still the market with the lowest vacancy. However, the increases in rental rate have caused there to be an increase in vacancy in the last three quarters."

Similar to all submarkets, Mr. Checa said, Coconut Grove's demand has slowed.

"It was a very slow summer," he said. "The activity is starting to pick back up now, after August, after school came back, but it has been, so far, a very slow 2025."

The Grove's appeal is its live, work and play lifestyle, said Carlos Villanueva, a managing broker with The Keyes Co. One's ability to work there while also being in an area with a high level of walkability "contributes to what people are looking for, which is more of a balanced lifestyle than just being an essential business district of a downtown or in a suburban market. It kind of gives you the balance between the two."

Another appeal is the area’s boutique Class A buildings, he said, that have character to them in terms of the mix of architectural style, luxury and social atmosphere.

Mr. Villanueva told Miami Today in January that he’d seen long-time tenants moving out of Coconut Grove as they were being priced out. Now, Mr. Villanueva said, not only are they being priced out, but they’re being inventoried out as buildings are repurposed.

“What’s happened,” he said, “is there's been several of the older buildings that have actually now been leveled, and they're building new buildings in their place. There's a Four Seasons being built in the hard corner of South Bayshore Drive. There used to be an office building occupied by the very prominent attorney, Kendall Coffey. That building has been leveled since, and so that reduced inventory.”

Mr. Checa noted a similar common theme as he shared that many of the tenants are being handed renewal rates causing them to leave the Grove.

“Some of the legacy tenants that have been in the Grove for a long time are getting priced out,” said Mr. Checa, “and they’re going to the Gables, which is a more affordable sister market with comparable amenities and walkability, and some of the tenants in the Brickell market that are getting priced out of the Brickell market are coming to the Grove.”

Additionally, Mr. Checa shared, Coconut Grove’s vacancy increased to 5.5% from 4%. The reason for this increase is a combination of a slow market and record-high rental rates in the Grove, he said.

As of Aug. 22, Coconut Grove’s Class A and Class B rental rates, said Mr. Checa, were averaging $65 a foot. Class A ranging from $70-$85 and Class B ranging from $60-$70.

"Legacy tenants," said Mr. Checa, "continue to play like a carousel type of wheel, where the legacy tenants in Brickell are getting priced out and coming to the Grove, and the legacy tenants in the Grove are getting priced out and they're coming to the Gables, and the legacy tenants in the Gables are getting priced out, are going to Waterford. There's an interesting movement of tenants that are looking for affordability, that are kind of interchanging between these markets. And I don't know how much longer the landlords are going to try to hold onto these rates before they notice the increase in vacancy continuing."

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About Lee & Associates South Florida

Lee & Associates South Florida is a fully vertical commercial real estate brokerage firm focused on industrial, office, retail, multifamily, investment and land sectors. Our dedicated team of professionals is led by Matthew Rotolante, CCIM, SIOR a 4th generation South Florida native in a family that has owned and operated commercial property here since 1928. Lee & Associates is the largest agent owned brokerage in the nation with Senior Agent’s ability to earn profit share resulting in the highest splits while still receiving full resources, support and leads from our national network. Our collaborative and cheerful culture allows for open communications throughout the company, fostering the sharing of information and best practices to better enable client decision making.  The Lee & Associates’ robust national network that sold and leased over $120 Billion in the last 5 years offers clients a cross-market platform of expertise and deal opportunities across all asset specialties and representation roles. For the latest news from Lee & Associates South Florida, visit leesouthflorida.com or follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram, our company local news.

About Lee & Associates

Lee & Associates is a commercial real estate brokerage sales, leasing and management firm. Established in 1979, Lee & Associates has grown its service platform to include over 75 offices in the United States and Canada. Lee & Associates is the largest agent owned commercial real estate brokerage where agents get the greatest return for their efforts and hence are more committed and better enabled to provide superior results for their customers.  For the latest news from Lee & Associates, visit lee-associates.com or follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and Link, our company blog.