>>Shopping centers and office buildings are hot commodities to buy in Collier County-if you can find them. Leasing rates in Lee County have stabilized, making it a good time to upgrade. While the growth of all three sectors has slowed in Charlotte County, industrial has held its own better than the other sectors. Here is a look at the three counties.

Collier County

The number of retail projects coming online has led to a temporary glut of space. Marketing time, which previously ran between two and four months, currently can take up to three times that long, according to Andrew Saluan, president of Naples-based AJS Realty Group. "Because of the overabundance of space that is being built right now, our rent rates are going to flatten out for a certain period of time before they continue on their upward trend," he says.

With cap rates in the mid to high 6 percent range for anchored shopping centers and 7 to 8.5 percent for unanchored centers, "shopping center sales is still a very strong market, [but] the availability is almost nonexistent," he says.

Office space is also being snatched up. "We are still in a position where we can't build them fast enough," says Andy D'Jamoos, vice president of sales and marketing for J.E.D. of Southwest Florida. "Over the next year or two things will be coming out of permitting and buildings will be going up." Vacancy rates will creep upward and help stabilize leasing rates.

J.E.D.'s office space sells for an average of $325 per square foot.

Unlike with retail and office, demand for industrial space is weak. Sales prices are stable, starting at $125 and going up to $225 per square foot.

"I think they will be steady in the short-term," says Mike Carr Sr., of Coldwell Banker Commercial NRT in Naples. "In this market, probably 50 percent of the industrial market is related to the housing industry, which is just holding its breath."

Lee County

Retail space is still commanding high leasing rates. "We are getting top dollar for our projects," says Robert Wagner, of Evans & Wagner Commercial Group in Fort Myers. "There is still enough space coming online to satisfy everybody," he says, so if common area maintenance (CAM) fees remain steady, rental rates also should stay stationary.

As in Collier, shopping centers for sale are scarce. "During that feeding frenzy, the real estate investment trusts came to town and cherry-picked all the good properties," Wagner says. "So the only thing that's been available has been a few of the smaller centers, but those things are so successful that most of the owners are hanging onto them for the income."

The area around I-75 and Colonial Boulevard is one of Lee County's hottest spots for retail and office. The 706-acre Forum is being billed as a community to live, work and play. J.E.D. of Southwest Florida is developing the Galleria at The Forum, which will include 125,000 square feet of office. For office space developed by J.E.D., sales rates run around $270 per square foot, which is almost 20 percent less than for comparable space in Collier County.

As in Collier, people seem to be taking a wait-and-see attitude on industrial space. "The supply is still extremely limited and the demand is still there, but people are just delaying decisions, which has stabilized rental rates," says Jim Garinger, Collier Arnold's managing director of investment and land sales.

But with a vacancy rate of 2 percent, leasing costs will continue to escalate.

"End users are driving that market because of the limited supply. People from different parts of Florida or the country who need to operate their businesses here have driven that up," Garinger says.

Charlotte County

Rising land and construction costs have driven leasing prices of newer, anchored shopping centers up to $18 to $22 per square foot.

"Most of the local business owners have not been able to bear that high rent," says Steve Gant, president of Gant Realty and a partner in Riverside Appraisal Services Co. "They are still in a $16- to $18-per-square-foot market."

Demand for renovated space has heated up. "You see a lot of people looking at existing space to rehab because you can hopefully get into a property at a more affordable price," Gant says.

Finished office space sells from $225 to more than $260 per square foot, and prices are expected to remain stable for at least the next six months. The vacancy rate for office space is low. But that might change over the next 12 to 24 months as a number of office and flex-space units come online.

The market needs large industrial buildings. While a lot of people are looking for land to do new projects, Gant says most have gone to acquisition and rehabilitation of existing properties. Industrial sales prices range from $80 to $120 per square foot, he says.

Punta Gorda's Airport Commerce Center promises to be the next hot spot for industrial. Sites with full utilities in the 270-acre park go from $6.50 to $8 per square foot, Gant says.

"Publix is building a distribution center out at the airport," he says, "so you've got some big-name companies coming in that will be a draw out there."

Average Triple Net Leasing Rates

(per square foot)

Collier County

Anchored retail centers: mid-$30s

Unanchored retail centers: mid- to high-$20s

Office: $23 to $30

Industrial: $10 and up

Lee County

Anchored retail centers: $22 to $24

Unanchored retail centers: $18 to $35

Office: $20 to $25

Industrial: $8

Charlotte County

Anchored retail centers: $18 to $22

Unanchored retail centers: $16 to $18

Office: $15 to $20

Industrial: $9 to $10

SOURCES: Andrew Saluan, Andy D'Jamoos, Mike Carr Sr.,

Robert Wagner, Jim Garinger, Steve Gant