The Sunshine State has had a very interesting relationship with real estate, especially commercial real estate. What started as a swampy land out by the ocean is now on the road to becoming America’s commercial hub. Several tech giants are moving their business to Florida, partly due to the state’s taxation system. But that’s not the topic today.

Rather, we want to discuss how Florida’s real estate got here.

It’s the 1920s. The War to End All Wars has just ended. The economy is on the recovery. People have their eyes set on growth. And Florida is showing a lot of potential for said growth.

A race commences in which people start buying and selling and buying and selling commercial properties throughout Florida.

In case someone asks you: when did the real estate boom occur in Florida? You can tell them it happened between 1920 and 1928. It was fueled by a lot of factors like economic prosperity, fewer regulations, and outside speculations. And like any other boom based on hyper-speculation, it ended rather quickly.

It’s 2024 now, we’ve seen the 1980s boom and the post-2008 boom. All of these receded. But one thing remained: the actual commercial properties. As these commercial buildings get older, they will need proper commercial building inspections to remain habitable and safe.

With this context, Pro-Spect will take you through today’s discussion on Florida’s real estate and how commercial property inspections factor in.

The Evolution of Florida’s Commercial Landscape

We’ve briefly touched on how the 1920s boom ended. But we didn’t discuss

The Post-1920s Era

The 1920s put Florida on the US map (figuratively speaking). People noticed that The Alligator State had more than swamps for the State Animal to roam. But this boom was also a cautionary tale. People were doing more calculations and reading the overall market trends before investing. This did slow down the progress but didn’t stop Florida in its tracks. It continued to thrive and kept developing modern infrastructure, albeit now with more control over the growth rate.

Not to mention an influx of tourists who had just learned about the sunny beaches.

The 1980s

This leads us to the 1980s when another real estate boom happened.

This time, it was due to the Floridan economy’s diversification. Miami became a commercial corridor as it connected the state to Latin America. It grew from a relatively small town to a full-blown metropolitan during the 1980s. And the population also surged.

This boom receded in the early 1990s, but one thing remained: commercial buildings. We want you to keep in mind that commercial buildings are now being made with sturdier material, so they are meant to last longer. More on this in our commercial building inspection section below.

For now, let’s focus on the market that recovered and how people started investing in Florida’s commercial real estate again. This eventually led to the famous 2008 crash. But we’ll not discuss it. Rather, we want to highlight

The post-2008 era

The 2008 crash hit Florida’s real estate pretty hard. Investors pulled their money and like everywhere else, the market crashed. However, Florida was hit especially hard as it saw low employment rates and lower spending, leading to a relatively slow recovery.

But recover it did; by 2013, it showed signs of that recovery. People were investing in real estate because of bargain prices. This stimulated a new influx of money into the state’s real estate. And then Covid hit us.

Here’s where the story gets interesting. When the whole world, not just the US, was struggling with property prices, Florida’s real estate was growing. Yes, the residential part of the real estate was showing the most appreciation. But commercial real estate was also showing resilience. We simply don’t have time to discuss the factors behind this trend. Rather, we’d like to highlight where we stand now.

Commercial Real Estate’s Condition in 2024

So, Florida’s real estate journey has been filled with highs and lows. A natural continuation of this story would be: how is commercial real estate doing in Florida in 2024?

The short answer is good. Although the rising interest rates are expected to slow down the investments, there will be enough investments to carry the momentum.

Another point to mention is the drop in property prices. Again, there are a lot of factors that are contributing to this. But if there’s one thing we can be sure of about Florida’s real estate, it is that Florida knows how to survive and break growth records once again.

Remember, we mentioned that the boom ends, but the buildings remain. Now, let’s talk about the buildings built during those booms. There are 1.5 million condo units in Florida, and 925,000 are 30 years or older. These buildings are not what they used to be. Over the years, the conditions deteriorated. They need renovation and inspections to meet the state regulations (and residents’ demands). Which leads us to

Why Are Commercial Building Inspections So Important?

We didn’t mention Florida’s weather and its unique issues. We saved those bits for this section.

You see, Florida has very turbulent weather (to say the least). In addition to the scorching heat, we get hurricanes and flooding. This leads to external and internal damage to the properties that can cause some legal issues down the road. But it’s not just legal issues that you need to worry about. You also need to keep an eye on what people demand.

All of this requires you to spend on renovations. But renovations without a roadmap can be like draining your water bottle down a sink. You won’t know where your money has gone, and there will still be work to do. So, instead of marching ahead without a plan, you should get a commercial building inspection for your property in Florida.

It’ll tell you exactly what part needs repairs and how much you can expect it to cost. If you’re worried about mistakes that are usually made during a home inspection, don’t. Pro-Spect has some of the most experienced and professionally trained commercial inspectors for the job.