Spotlight On: Gian Rodriguez, Senior Managing Director, CBRE

Key points:

• • South Florida’s commercial real estate market remains strong across all sectors, supported by investor demand and population growth.
• • Land constraints and rising costs limit overbuilding, helping maintain stability and long-term value.
• • Infrastructure investments, especially Brightline, are driving development and regional connectivity.

April 2026 — In an interview with Invest:, Gian Rodriguez, senior managing director and South Florida market lead at CBRE, shared why land constraints, infrastructure investment, and sustained investor demand continue to set South Florida apart. “With improving connectivity and continued population growth, all signs point to a region that is still very much on the rise,” Rodriguez said.

Join us at the Invest: Greater Fort Lauderdale 8th Edition Leadership Summit! This premier event brings together hundreds of Greater Fort Lauderdale’s business and regional leaders to discuss the challenges and opportunities for businesses and investors. Buy your ticket now!

How would you describe the commercial real estate environment in South Florida?

“Healthy” is probably the one word I would use. When you look at every one of our verticals — office, retail, industrial, and multifamily — we had a pretty solid year across all sectors. That’s driven in part by the demand drivers that are in place for South Florida: a business-friendly environment, quality of life, and continued inbound interest from investors. I’m seemingly in a meeting every week with potential new investors asking what South Florida looks like and where they can put their money. Activity continues to be strong, and I see that continuing. 

What trends are you seeing in the industrial sector specifically?

Resilient is probably the best word. Leasing activity has been consistent, and while deals are taking a little longer to close, I’d characterize that as stabilization rather than weakness. Rental rates continue to creep up, and fundamentals — absorption, overall inventory, and vacancy — remain very strong. We have had some new deliveries come online, which has caused slight increases, but nothing alarming. It’s still very healthy from both a tenant and an institutional investor standpoint. 

The office market has been under scrutiny nationally. What is the picture in Greater Fort Lauderdale?

We started 2025 with some strong figures. Our Office Capital Markets Team sold two assets, 401 East Las Olas and 350/450 East Las Olas, both of which set record sale prices. 401 sold at $220 million and 350/450 sold at $208 million, both records. So if that’s any indication, it’s still a relatively healthy market. Fort Lauderdale is a bit of a tweener when you compare it to Miami and West Palm Beach, but we’re essentially at pre-COVID office activity levels.

Fort Lauderdale also functions differently — it tends to attract more geographically-driven tenants, meaning satellite offices, rather than major headquarters. And because Miami and West Palm Beach have become so expensive, Fort Lauderdale still presents real opportunity. It remains robust and healthy.

What is driving activity on the multifamily side?

There is still new supply coming online, and a good portion of it is centered around transit-oriented developments, particularly near Brightline stations and along that corridor, where spots in Miami and Palm Beach County have already been spoken for. I’d estimate somewhere between 11 properties representing 12% to 13% of overall inventory coming online within the next two years. On the transaction side, 2023 was a low point, but 2025 year-end figures showed a clear rebound. Occupancy stabilized at around 91% to 92%, even with the new supply that has been delivered.

How are land constraints and rising construction costs affecting development activity?

It increases the price on the entire project — that’s the simple answer. South Florida is unique in that we have the ocean to the east and the Everglades to the west; we are sandwiched in between sharks and gators. That typically drives development further eastward, increases the price per square foot from a land perspective, and naturally limits the number of players in our market. But it also acts as a guardrail. In markets without those constraints, developers can just find cheap land and build. We can’t do that here.

As a result, we haven’t overbuilt, and that keeps the market in check. Yes, it creates a barrier to entry, but it also creates stability. Broward County, and specifically the area in and around Fort Lauderdale, still has more than a couple multifamily development opportunities, especially when compared to Miami and Palm Beach, which makes it an attractive target for both institutional and private capital.

What role does infrastructure play in shaping where development occurs across the region?

Infrastructure is a huge development driver, especially for transit-oriented developments. The Brightline is a perfect example of that, with stations in Miami, Aventura, Fort Lauderdale, Boca Raton, Palm Beach, and Orlando. Development, particularly on the multifamily and office sides, has been active up and down the corridor with a new station in Stuart also set to open later this year. The mobility it creates between cities is significant. Miami and Fort Lauderdale are only 25 miles apart, but it can routinely take over an hour by car. On the Brightline, it’s a 30-minute commute.

That connectivity is huge, not just for the future but right now. It truly connects our markets, and as traffic continues to worsen, more people are going to rely on rail. When you look at all the development, the further east you go, the more expensive it is, as you get more density. 

What trends do you see shaping South Florida’s commercial real estate market over the next three to five years?

On the office side, I see South Florida continuing to be a destination for new-to-market tenants — companies relocating or opening satellite offices. That net new migration is still very much alive. From 2020 to 2025, we saw a huge influx of office tenants post-COVID, and I expect that to continue at a healthy pace. On the industrial side, as our regional population continues to grow, along with the scale of the consumption of goods and services, industrial occupiers need to meet those demands with distribution and storage facilities located within the South Florida market.

As a result, I see tenant demand continuing to remain strong. In fact, some of the larger industrial deals in our market’s history have occurred in just the last couple of months, a trend that should continue at a steady pace for the next three to five years. On the multifamily side, transit-oriented development continues to lead, and workforce housing remains a pressing need. South Florida also continues to serve as a gateway to Latin America, and that role is only growing stronger.

The stability of the U.S. dollar makes it an attractive destination for international capital, and with improving connectivity and continued population growth, all signs point to a region that is still very much on the rise.

Want more? Read the Invest: Greater Fort Lauderdale report.