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It’s a new day in South Florida commercial property leasing when the promise of a generator lookup helps seal a deal for a 250,000-square-foot warehouse. But that’s what helped Sunbeam Properties negotiate a contract in March with Coaster Company of America for a bigger warehouse in the Miramar Park of Commerce. Before two record hurricane seasons, "this would never have come up," said Sunbeam vice president Andrew Ansin. Coaster branch manager Don Cearnal doubts the furniture distributor will need a generator to power the whole building.But he wants the assurance of a transfer switch and plug for a portable generator. Ansin and Cearnal have plenty of company as South Florida property owners, tenants and brokers power up for another hurricane season only 27 days away. In the wake of Wilma’s widespread blackouts last fall, generators with the looks of wallflowers have emerged as sexy negotiating tools in commercial property deals. "The first question I get on a space showing is whether they can tie into our generators," said broker Deanna Lobinsky, first vice president of CB Richard Ellis in Fort Lauderdale. She represents landlords with 2 million square feet of office space in Broward alone. Half of that is in Duke Realty buildings. Few landlords will risk the liability of allowing tenants to tie into a building’s main generator that powers life-safety equipment such as fire alarms, emergency lighting and elevators — even if there is enough extra juice. And adding a generator big enough to power an entire building is far different than the $1,500 Home Depot specials bought by homeowners to keep the fridge running.

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