Miami’s retail construction pipeline grew to 1.3 million square feet in the third quarter, double the amount under construction during the same period last year and the highest level since early 2023, according to a third-quarter Colliers report. The rise in development comes as the market maintains a tight vacancy rate, keeping asking rents on the climb despite slower leasing activity.

Leasing activity slows while rents hit records

Direct vacancy inched upward from 2.9% to 3% in the third quarter, a figure that has hovered within the same range for the last year and remains below pre-pandemic levels. Leasing activity also slowed during the period, totaling 257,000 square feet across 118 deals. This represents a decline from the 413,000 square feet of deals across 150 transactions recorded in the previous quarter.

One of the largest leases of the third quarter was a 51,000 square foot deal with a digital zoo concept called Holozoo Florida. Triple-net asking rents hit a record $44.34 per square foot in the third quarter, up from $42.83 in the same period of 2025 and a more than 18% increase since 2021. The report notes that these rent increases show no signs of cooling.

Developers point to preleasing as confidence driver

Colliers retail services Executive Vice President Sabrina Stimming attributes the surge in construction to confidence that new inventory will find tenants. “The differentiating factor here is that there’s confidence that if you build it, they will come,” Stimming said. “Tenants are still out there driving the demand, which is what I think is the difference. There was just too much uncertainty a couple of years ago.”

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Stimming added that a lot of preleasing activity is making it easier for developers to justify their underwriting and pull the trigger on projects. Miami’s preleasing activity is driving this confidence, with the largest projects in the pipeline spanning 17 developments. The Miami Freedom Park development includes 500,000 square feet of retail and landed three retailers in December, totaling 120,000 square feet of leasing activity. Tenants include a Tiger Woods-backed golf entertainment venue called PopStroke and Puerto Rico-based adventure park Toroverde.

Developers are locking in major tenants early to ensure projects are viable. The under-construction Palm Springs Square in Miami Gardens is bringing 230,000 square feet of grocery-anchored retail and has signed Publix. Most recently, David Martin’s Terra landed a 40,000 square foot lease with Walmart for a new Neighborhood Market at the 78,000 square foot under-construction Doral Atrium, expected to open next year. The development is 95% leased to tenants including PNC Bank, Bonchon Chicken, Sushi Mas, Tremble Pilates and The Good Feet Store.

While the construction pipeline is expanding, the additional supply is not expected to relieve enough pressure to soften rents. This is especially true in neighborhoods like Brickell, where the vacancy rate is 2.7%, or suburban markets like Aventura, Coconut Grove and Coral Gables, where vacancy rates are below 2%. The increased competition means tenants looking to enter the market may need to be flexible on their expectations.

“I think retailers as a whole may have pinpointed where they want to enter a market, but I think that, for the most part, unless you’re that specialty-type restaurateur, you’re going to need to be flexible and you’re going to need to be a little bit willing to consider alternatives to break in,” Stimming said. “Not everybody’s going to get into Coconut Grove this year, and not everyone’s going to get into Aventura in 2028 or whatever their growth plan is.”