· Covers 3Q 2026 · Data as of October 2026 · Ironmark research
Fort Myers industrial vacancy was 9.2% in 3Q 2026 (data as of October 2026), and average asking rent was $13.75 per SF per year, according to Ironmark’s 3Q 2026 Fort Myers Industrial Brief.
In Lee County, one corridor tells both stories. Vacancy (the share of space that is empty) is 9.2%, up 0.8 pts in a year, and two-thirds of the empty space sits on the airport–I-75 corridor. That corridor is also where 87% of the year’s rise in occupied space went; the change in occupied space countywide was +962K SF. Four leases of 100,000 SF or more took 1.09M SF there. Asking rents average $13.75/SF a year. Across all buildings, rent growth cooled to 2.1%. About 1.24M SF is being built, most of it Amazon’s own building. Sales hit $505.9 million in 12 months, and new, leased buildings sold near a 6% cap rate (the yearly return from rent, as a % of the price), against a 8.5% market-wide rate.
See how Fort Myers compares with Florida’s other industrial markets in the statewide market data table.
The bottom line: one corridor, both stories.
- For tenants: the empty space is on the airport–I-75 corridor, 12.2% vacant; our other three zones run 4.8% to 6.6% vacant.
- For owners: four leases of 100,000 SF or more took 1.09M SF in a year; the empty very large warehouses are filling, largest first.
- For buyers: new, leased buildings sold near a 6% cap rate (the yearly return from rent, as a % of the price); the 8.5% market-wide rate reflects older buildings.
What happened in Fort Myers industrial in 3Q 2026
Four threads define Lee County’s past 12 months: big businesses filled new very large warehouses near the airport, the empty space stayed on that same corridor, rent growth cooled, and one company’s own building is most of what is being built.
- Four big leases, one corridor. Four leases of 100,000 SF or more were signed in the past year, all near the airport: the whole 481,933-SF Highland Commerce Center, E2Companies (320,922 SF), Northstar (153,000 SF) and Dematic (136,000 SF). Together they took 1.09M SF.
- The empty space is near the airport. S Ft Myers/San Carlos is 12.2% vacant and holds 2.87M of the county’s 4.24M SF of empty space, yet occupied space there also rose 833K SF in 12 months. No other area is above 7.1% vacant.
- Growth has cooled. Asking rents (what landlords ask) average about $13.75 per SF a year. Across all buildings, rent growth cooled to 2.1% a year from 4.6% in 2025. Big tenants sign lower: Milestone Cabinetry started at $12.35/SF for 66,229 SF.
- One company is most of what is being built. One other firm’s third-quarter report puts 1.24M SF being built. In our area data, 71.5% is already leased before it is finished. Amazon’s 750,000-SF robotics fulfillment center on State Road 82 is most of it; only three other buildings reach 100,000 SF.
Fort Myers industrial by area, 3Q 2026
Two-thirds of the vacancy, one zone. Ironmark reads Lee County as four zones. The airport–I-75 corridor holds half of all industrial space, two-thirds of the empty space and 87% of the year’s rise in occupied space. Central and east Fort Myers have 79% of the space being built, most of it Amazon’s own building.
| Zone | Share of all space | Being built, SF | Change in occupied space, past 12 months, SF | Vacancy (% empty) | Rent vs county average | Share already leased |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Airport–I-75 corridor | 51% | 129K SF | 833K SF | 12.2% | +2% | 41% |
| Central & east | 31% | 1.01M SF | 62K SF | 6.6% | -10% | 75% |
| North of the river | 13% | 135K SF | 70K SF | 5.1% | +6% | 74% |
| South coast & islands | 5% | 0 | (3K SF) | 4.8% | +27% | n/a |
| Lee County overall | 100% | 1.27M SF | +962K SF | 9.2% | — | 72% |
All industrial buildings, data as of October 2026; zones and zone totals: Ironmark analysis. Change in occupied space = space tenants moved into minus space they moved out of over the past 12 months; (parentheses) = a drop. Rent vs county average = each zone’s asking rent, weighted by building size, against the Lee County average. Share already leased = share of the space being built that is leased before it is finished; n/a = nothing being built. Area figures count every project in the source data, so they total more than the one-report figure above. Zones: Airport–I-75 corridor = S Ft Myers/San Carlos; Central & east = City of Ft Myers, Lehigh; North of the river = Cape Coral, North Ft Myers; South coast & islands = Bonita Springs, Estero, The Islands.
The corridor fills; the coast costs more. Bonita Springs asking rents run 29% above the county average, while the City of Ft Myers sits 10% below. S Ft Myers/San Carlos is 12.2% vacant and no other area shown tops 7.1%. Occupied space there rose 833K SF; it fell slightly in North Ft Myers and Bonita Springs.
Fort Myers industrial capital markets: sales volume, pricing and cap rates
New, leased buildings set the price. Lee County industrial sold $505.9 million over the past 12 months across 204 sales, more than three times the $148 million long-run yearly average. About half, $260 million, sold in S Ft Myers/San Carlos. Estimated market value is about $149/SF and the cap rate (the yearly return from rent, as a % of the price) is 8.5%; the typical sale price (the middle of all sales) is $214/SF.
Two buyers took a quarter of the dollars. Cardinal System paid $65.0 million, about $135/SF, for the 2024-built, 481,933-SF Highland Commerce Center. Capital Partners Management made six purchases totaling $63.4 million, about $236/SF, including four 2023-built Meridian Business Campus buildings at a 6.0% cap rate. By area, S Ft Myers/San Carlos drew $260 million across 94 sales, the City of Ft Myers $152 million across 59 and Cape Coral $38.5 million across 30. Buyers pay most for what Lee County built after 2020: modern, leased, mid-size buildings near the airport. Older buildings still sell at prices that match the 8.5% market-wide cap rate. With most of what is being built one company’s own building, few new buildings without a tenant lined up will compete for those buyers in 2027, which favors owners of modern, leased space.
Ironmark’s read on Fort Myers industrial
What Ironmark is seeing in the Fort Myers industrial market in 3Q 2026, beyond the reported numbers.
“Lee County’s vacancy and its recovery sit on the same stretch of I-75 by the airport. Read that corridor, not the county average.”
The airport–I-75 corridor holds half of Lee County’s industrial space and two-thirds of its empty space: 12.2% vacant, against 4.8% to 6.6% in our other three zones. It is also where the year’s demand went: 833,000 SF of the county’s 962,000 SF rise in occupied space over 12 months. All four of the year’s leases of 100,000 SF or more, 1.09 million SF in total, landed there, including the whole 481,933-SF Highland Commerce Center on Oriole Road and E2Companies’ 320,922 SF at Gulf Landing. That is the extra supply of very large warehouses clearing from the top down. For a business needing 100,000 SF the corridor still offers choice, but the largest blocks are going. For owners elsewhere in the county, the corridor’s vacancy is not your vacancy: price to your own zone.
— Matthew L. Phillips, SIOR · (561) 621-5466
“Lee County’s sales are running at a record pace, and the money went to new, leased buildings at about a 6% cap rate. The 8.5% market rate describes the older buildings.”
$505.9 million sold over the past 12 months, more than three times the $148 million long-run average and within $1 million of the market’s 12-month record. The sales with published returns were new and fully leased: Capital Partners Management paid $48.4 million, about $232 a foot, for four 2023-built Meridian Business Campus buildings at a 6.0% cap rate (the yearly return from rent, as a % of the price), and the middle cap rate on recent sales is 6.4%. The market-wide cap rate, an estimate for all buildings, is 8.5%. That gap of two points or more is the read: buyers pay up for post-2020 buildings with tenants in place. For the owner of a modern, leased building, this is a seller’s window. For a buyer, the value is in the older buildings the 8.5% describes.
— Troy Schaafsma, SIOR · (561) 621-5489
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the industrial vacancy rate in Fort Myers?
Industrial vacancy (the share of space that is empty) in Fort Myers and Lee County was 9.2% in 3Q 2026 (data as of October 2026), up 0.8 points in a year, according to Ironmark’s 3Q 2026 Fort Myers Industrial Brief. Two-thirds of the empty space sits on the airport and I-75 corridor (S Ft Myers/San Carlos), which is 12.2% vacant; no other area is above 7.1%.
What does warehouse space rent for in Fort Myers?
Asking rent for Fort Myers industrial space was about $13.75 per SF per year in 3Q 2026, plus the tenant’s share of taxes, insurance and upkeep, per Ironmark’s 3Q 2026 Fort Myers Industrial Brief. Across all Lee County industrial buildings, rent growth cooled to 2.1% a year from 4.6% in 2025, and Bonita Springs rents run 29% above the county average.
How much industrial space is being built in Fort Myers?
About 1.24M SF of industrial space was being built in Lee County in 3Q 2026, per the one third-quarter market report covering the county, according to Ironmark’s 3Q 2026 Fort Myers Industrial Brief. Amazon’s 750,000-SF robotics fulfillment center on State Road 82 is most of it.
What are industrial buildings selling for in Fort Myers?
The typical Fort Myers industrial sale (the middle of 219 sales over the past 12 months) was $214 per SF, per Ironmark’s 3Q 2026 Fort Myers Industrial Brief. The market-wide cap rate (the yearly return from rent, as a % of the price) was 8.5%, but new, leased buildings sold near 6%, and $505.9 million sold in the year.
How much industrial space was leased in Fort Myers over the past year?
Occupied space in Lee County (space tenants moved into, minus space they moved out of) changed by +962K SF over the 12 months to October 2026, according to Ironmark’s 3Q 2026 Fort Myers Industrial Brief. About 87% of the rise was on the airport and I-75 corridor, where four leases of 100,000 SF or more took 1.09M SF.
Buying, selling, or leasing in Fort Myers? See Ironmark’s Fort Myers and Lee County industrial brokerage, or read every Florida market brief.
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Ironmark Florida Industrial Brief — Fort Myers Edition. Ironmark Capital Advisory’s own analysis and commentary, covering 3Q 2026 (Lee County), data as of October 2026. Sources: the asking rent and the space being built are from Lee & Associates’ third-quarter 2026 Fort Myers report, the only third-quarter brokerage report found for Lee County (reports that add Collier and Charlotte counties are not used). That report puts vacancy at 7.25%, but its count of all industrial space jumped about 8M SF this year, which looks like a recount of buildings, so vacancy here stays on our main data source (9.2%). No third-quarter report gives a figure for the quarter alone for occupied space in Lee County, so the headline is the 12-month change. From this edition the headline asking rent is the middle figure of other firms’ third-quarter reports (here, the one report); earlier Ironmark briefs used an estimate covering every building, which runs higher, so the two are not directly comparable. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (Cape Coral-Fort Myers metro area jobs, Sep 2026, preliminary); U.S. Census Bureau (Lee County population, Vintage 2025); Ironmark analysis (zones, zone totals, share already leased by zone, commentary and the principals’ takes). Figures are believed reliable but not guaranteed; informational only and not tax, legal, or investment advice. © 2026 Ironmark Capital Advisory. Main line (561) 621-5450.