According to data from Cushman & Wakefield, industrial real estate vacancies in Jacksonville have gone down 30 percent over the past year. The vacancy rate in Jacksonville is now 7.2 percent, down from 10.2 percent for the same period last year. At the same time, the volume of available inventory has actually grown year-over-year by 1.3 percent. In 2015, there was 103 million square feet available compared with 104 million square feet in 2016. Overall vacancy rates across all Duval County, St. Johns County and Clay County have declined. Clay County’s vacancy rates dropped year-over-year from 12 percent to just two-tenths of a percent, while St. Johns vacancies dropped from 15.3 percent to 5.3 percent. “The overall industrial market has improved year-over-year,” said Chris Owen, Florida research manager for Cushman & Wakefield. “We’ve seen a tightening of vacancies with increased occupancy, particularly on the Westside.”
