Tampa-St. Petersburg Industrial Market Report

Active retenanting meets a delivery slowdown. New speculative supply and move-outs by smaller tenants lifted vacancy to its highest level since 2013 last year. Yet that churn also opened more small-bay options, with segment leasing reaching an all-time high of nearly 4 million square feet in 2025. Faster-growing areas, such as east and north Hillsborough County and Sarasota-Bradenton, all saw historically high small-bay demand, pointing to strong backfilling. Port activity likely helped, as container traffic moving through Port Tampa Bay rose 2 percent year-over-year while cargo at Tampa International Airport fell by more than 10 percent, leaving airport-area leasing softer. Relief may broaden in 2026 as completions fall to a decade low, especially in Plant City, which will see no major deliveries after adding more than 6 million square feet since 2022. That pullback should aid buildings over 100,000 square feet, where vacancy hit 12 percent in March, versus about 4 percent for small-bay properties. Tampa’s average asking rent, now at a record discount to Orlando, may also draw tenants.