Miami's Office Recovery Favors Brickell Over Downtown

Miami-Dade's office market strengthened in the second quarter of 2026, but the gains landed in Brickell and Coral Gables, not Downtown Miami. CBRE's Q2 2026 report puts countywide office vacancy at 14.9%, while Downtown Miami sat at 20.8% and lost 78,000 square feet of occupied space in the quarter.

The countywide numbers

CBRE's Miami office report for Q2 2026, covered by Miami Today in August, shows a market that is tightening overall:

• Vacancy: 14.9% across the tracked submarkets.
• Net absorption: about 344,000 square feet, up from 80,000 in the first quarter, almost all of it in Class A space.
• Asking rent: a record average of $68.60 per square foot a year, up 6.5% from a year earlier.
• Leasing: 768,000 square feet signed in the quarter.
• Pipeline: about 1.3 million square feet under construction and 94,000 square feet delivered.

An earlier version of this article said rents rose 4.5% and that leasing totaled 86,000 square feet. CBRE's report gives 6.5%, and the 86,000 figure covered only its three largest reported deals.

Brickell and Downtown are moving in opposite directions

| Submarket, Q2 2026 | What CBRE reported | |---|---| | Brickell | 69,000 sq ft of positive net absorption, 112,000 sq ft leased, about 900,000 sq ft under construction, Class A asking rent $102.66 | | Downtown Miami | 20.8% vacancy, 78,000 sq ft of negative net absorption, 188,000 sq ft leased, Class A asking rent $76.30 |

Downtown still signs plenty of leases, including the quarter's largest new deal: Amcor Flexibles North America took 34,000 square feet at 200 South Biscayne Boulevard. But more space emptied than filled. Brickell, with the biggest construction pipeline in the county, is where tenants pay the highest Class A rents in the county outside Miami Beach.

What it means for condo buyers

Office demand feeds the condo market through jobs within walking distance and through weekday traffic for shops and restaurants. On that measure, Brickell is in the stronger position, and its resale market is also the deeper one. Own.Miami's market reports, as of October 13, 2026:

| | Brickell | Downtown | |---|---|---| | Condo closings, last 12 months | 747 | 368 | | Change in closings, year over year | down about 10% | down about 11% | | Median sale price | $610,000 | $530,000 | | Median sale per sq ft | $608 | $587 | | Condos for sale | 1,133 | 923 | | Months of supply | 18.2 | 30.1 |

Both are buyer's markets, Downtown much more so. A weak office core does not lower prices by itself, but 30 months of supply means Downtown sellers compete hard for each buyer. Buyers looking at towers next to the office district, such as 50 Biscayne, Vizcayne or Centro, have room to negotiate.