A vacant stretch of land at 8530 Belvedere Road in unincorporated Palm Beach County is on its way to becoming a 93,556-square-foot Class A warehouse after its developers closed a $17.3 million construction loan from Pinnacle Financial Partners. Hernandez Development & Construction and PTM Partners are behind the project, dubbed Palm Beach Commerce Center, which is designed to serve multiple tenants in a market where new industrial space has grown scarce.
The financing was announced as a $17.3 million construction loan with Pinnacle Financial Partners, according to Connect CRE. The lender had recently merged with Synovus Bank, the outlet reported. Hernandez Development & Construction, which is also serving as the project's developer and general contractor, closed the deal alongside PTM Partners for the site at 8530 Belvedere Road in unincorporated Palm Beach County.
The companies originally acquired the 8.13-acre development site for $11.5 million, according to the New York Real Estate Journal. The parcel had previously been approved for retail, gas station, and daycare uses, the outlet noted, a reminder of how quickly South Florida land use can pivot toward industrial development when the numbers make sense.
What's Being Built on Belvedere Road
Palm Beach Commerce Center is planned with 32-foot clear heights, 22 dock doors, and more than 180 feet of building depth, per the same New York Real Estate Journal report. The building is designed for multi-tenant occupancy, with suites available starting at 11,700 square feet — a layout aimed at smaller and mid-sized industrial users rather than a single large occupant.
According to Florida YIMBY, the project is planned for the southeast corner of Belvedere Road and Sansbury's Way, and the site is located in a designated opportunity zone. The outlet also reported that site work began in October, that the building will include 84,200 square feet of warehouse space and 9,356 square feet of office space, and that it is expected to deliver in the third quarter of 2027. Florida YIMBY further reported that Hernandez Development Services is managing development, Hernandez Construction is serving as general contractor, and CBRE is handling leasing for the project.
A Tight Market for New Industrial Space
The project is landing in a Palm Beach County industrial market that remains tight by regional standards even as vacancy has edged upward. Overall vacancy rose 90 basis points quarter over quarter and 50 basis points year over year, ending the third quarter of 2026 at 9.0%, according to Cushman & Wakefield. At the same time, the county's construction pipeline shrank to a two-year low, with just over 400,000 square feet under development at quarter-end — all of it expected to deliver by year-end, the firm reported.
Leasing activity picked up sharply even as new supply tightened. New leasing activity increased 47.1% quarter over quarter, ending a four-quarter streak of declining deal volume, with 301,000 square feet leased in the third quarter, Cushman & Wakefield's report found. Overall absorption turned positive during the same period, totaling more than 85,000 square feet, while the average industrial asking rent climbed to $14.45 per square foot, a 4.3% increase year over year and the highest point in three years.
That scarcity of new Class A product is part of what drew PTM Partners to the Belvedere Road site in the first place. A separate report on the site's repositioning characterized Palm Beach County industrial vacancy as among the lowest in South Florida despite rising supply, the New York Real Estate Journal noted. Hernandez Development has pursued industrial conversions elsewhere in the area as well; the South Florida Business Journal has reported on a separate Hernandez Development warehouse proposal near West Palm Beach, though specifics on that project remain limited.
Looking Ahead
With financing now in place and site work underway, Palm Beach Commerce Center adds another multi-tenant industrial option to a submarket where available Class A space has been hard to come by. The project's path from approved gas station and daycare site to a dock-high warehouse complex reflects the broader pressure facing Palm Beach County landowners as industrial demand continues to outpace new construction.
