April 2026 — In an interview with Invest:, Patrick Mahoney, CEO of NAI Realvest, said the company is experiencing a surge in business, driven by a strategic internal effort to cultivate younger talent and an external market shift that is attracting people to Central Florida. “Our business is up 20% from last year, predominantly because of both of those moves of adding more sales associates and a flight to Central Florida for some cost savings,” Mahoney said.
What changes in the real estate market have influenced NAI?
Internally, we looked around the organization and realized that our brokers and associates were aging, and we needed to try to bring in some young people. We brought on eight new, young sales associates, and that has given the company a serious boost of fresh energy inside. Outside the office, Central Florida is benefiting because South Florida is getting so pricey. Investors and businesses looking for industrial and office space are moving to Central Florida to save money — it’s still a much cheaper market. This influx, combined with the new team members, has actually hiked the company’s business up by 20% compared to last year.
Even though Central Florida is still growing, the pace has cooled off a lot. The area used to gain about 60,000 new residents annually, as it did in 2024, but now it’s only looking like 35,000 to 40,000. Despite the slower growth, finding available space is still a huge pain point. Affordable housing is getting harder to come by, as both buying and renting have gotten expensive, with apartment rents continuing to climb in a super-tight market. You can find a place, but be prepared for the rising cost.
What is the state of the commercial real estate market in Central Florida?
The commercial real estate market in Central Florida is dealing with a big mismatch between what’s available and what people are looking for across its main sectors. The industrial market is a bit of a mixed bag. On one hand, there are too many huge industrial spaces, like those over 500,000 square feet, which means more empty buildings. Ryder Logistics recently took over 1 million square feet, which helped a little, but there’s still a lot of big space sitting empty. On the flip side, the market for smaller warehouses of 20,000 square feet or less is incredibly tight, with almost every single one occupied. This serious shortage is forcing smaller companies into a frantic search for space, and the mix of higher rents, stable costs, and strong demand now makes it a great time to start building new, smaller warehouses.
The office market shows a similar pattern. Larger office spaces, over 10,000 square feet, are oversupplied, mainly because big companies and call centers are downsizing their physical offices. As a result, these bigger spaces are taking a long time to get new tenants. In sharp contrast, smaller offices of 10,000 square feet or less are snapped up very quickly as soon as they become available. The retail market, though, is doing exceptionally well with barely any vacant space. This strong demand, paired with a clear lack of available property, suggests it’s a prime time to develop new open-air retail centers, especially in fast-growing suburban spots like Lake Nona, near the airpor,t and the West Orange areas. Overall, Central Florida remains a very attractive place, mostly due to its relatively affordable living costs. This appeal keeps driving continuous population growth, boosted by people moving from South Florida and other states, which is the underlying strength of the region’s commercial real estate market.
Where do you see the greatest opportunities for expansion in 2026 and beyond?
The most significant growth in the industrial sector is anticipated in spaces of 20,000 square feet or less. This category includes smaller warehouses, which could be tilt-wall construction, and small bay spaces, which are typically around 5,000 square feet. Conversely, a substantial amount of large industrial space is available, but interest from large tenants is minimal. Working through this inventory is expected to take time, likely extending into 2026.
The office market presents a different challenge. Large available spaces are difficult to retrofit into smaller units due to their deep floor plates, making subdivisions resemble a bowling alley. It will be interesting to see how this market adapts. A key trend expected is an increase in owner-users purchasing small buildings rather than leasing space in larger multitenant properties. This is a crucial opportunity to focus on within the office sector. Additionally, small open-air retail is showing success. A recently developed small open-air retail project in West Orange is being leased successfully. Overall, these small industrial, small owner-user office buildings, and small open-air retail product types are where the market opportunities lie, and significant land is still available.
How do you see the mixed-use development fitting into the central Orlando growth trajectory?
The market has seen a surge in build-to-rent single-family homes over the past few years. This trend, which has provided a strong market for selling land to builders in 2024 and 2025, stems from the high cost of housing, leading more people to rent rather than buy. However, a slowdown is anticipated in 2026 due to a current lag in lease-up and existing vacancy rates, which will likely result in less new product being introduced in this specific build-to-rent segment.
In contrast, mixed-use developments remain a highly desirable product type. Multifamily apartment complexes with walkability to restaurants and shops command higher rents. Central Florida, particularly Orlando, has experienced a construction gap in this product type because securing financing has been difficult, with banks being hesitant to lend for such projects. As a result, projects that are under construction were initiated two to three years ago. A future improvement in the lending environment, driven by falling interest rates, is expected to stimulate new construction in this sector. For rental communities, location and mixed-use functionality are paramount. This shift toward well-located, mixed-use projects is driving success and higher rents, moving away from the less successful, remote garden-style apartment models.
What will be NAI Realvest’s priorities for the coming years?
We see good opportunities, especially in building small bay warehouses. Since we aren’t a general contractor ourselves, the company is busy setting up new partnerships so we can do more of these small bay developments. NAI Realvest brings investment funding, brokerage help, and management services to these joint efforts, and we plan to add even more development partners next year.
Our main real estate focus is still affordable housing and tackling the shortage of quality retail space, particularly small, standalone properties for one or three to four tenants. NAI Realvest has experience developing this type of retail and we are actively looking for similar projects. The company is also feeling good about the business outlook for 2026.