The new report from commercial brokerage CBRE added that no region in the country is more vulnerable to coastal floods than the Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach areas. Potential real estate losses from encroaching floodwaters in these counties are estimated to be as high as $366 billion, in the worst-case scenario.
The risk is exacerbated by the latest building boom, which has seen the construction of more than 120 new condominium towers in the region.
The report’s author said that commercial real estate owners and developers need to be proactive in updating and expanding their insurance policies to keep their assets safe, instead of depending on frequently neglected public infrastructure.
“[They] need to take steps to protect themselves, which could mean increasing flood insurance coverage, rehabbing buildings to make them more resilient, and thinking twice about building in highly exposed coastal areas,” report author and CBRE Florida research and analysis director Quinn Eddins told the Miami Herald.
The inexorable rise in sea levels, which is projected to rise 6 to 10 inches in South Florida by 2030, could drown cities like Miami Beach, which has started a $500-million high-volume pump system installation and road raising project.
Other regions face similar dangers: The greater New York area has $237 billion worth of real estate exposed to sea level rise, while New Orleans has $144 billion at risk.
