Nuveen has either recently sold or is currently in the process of selling the 801 Brickell office building located in Miami, fetching approximately $250 million in the deal. This transaction is poised to establish a new record for investment sales in South Florida this year.
This sale may signify the robustness of Miami’s Brickell office market, particularly noteworthy during a time when only a limited number of prestigious office buildings are changing hands in major cities nationwide.
Notably, this sale could potentially claim the title of the largest office investment deal of the year among top markets, including New York, San Francisco, and Los Angeles, according to Dinkova. Investment sales have experienced a slowdown over the past year due to the substantial increase in interest rates and the challenges associated with the return-to-office initiatives in many major U.S. cities.
It is important to emphasize that the purchasers of 801 Brickell, Monarch, and Tourmaline, are not acquiring distressed real estate. The building is currently leased to over 90 percent capacity, with notable tenants such as investment firm Selvatra, Cassel Salpeter, Swiss Re Group, and the retail tenant Groot Hospitality’s Komodo restaurant.
This 695,000-square-foot property, encompassing approximately 415,000 square feet of office space, is changing hands at a rate of approximately $600 per square foot. While not the highest price per square foot seen in recent years, it still ranks among the top figures.
Monarch and Tourmaline are financing roughly 60 percent of the purchase price, a favorable arrangement considering today’s market conditions, according to sources cited by Dinkova.
Furthermore, Brickell has emerged as a particularly robust office market compared to others since the onset of the pandemic. Billionaire Ken Griffin chose Brickell as the location for his new skyscraper, where his Citadel and Citadel Securities will be headquartered. (Griffin also acquired the 28-story building at 1221 Brickell Avenue for $286.5 million, or approximately $700 per square foot, last year.)
In other real estate news, a waterfront estate in the Venetian Islands, which sold three years ago for $9.5 million, has recently been listed for sale at nearly three times that price. The 5,500-square-foot residence, boasting six bedrooms, six and a half bathrooms, and 90 feet of water frontage, features an outdoor kitchen, pool, and dock. The listing agent is Morgan Blittner of Brown Harris Stevens.
On a different note, it’s worth noting that waterfront land has become so scarce in Miami Beach that one developer, Jamie LeFrak, plans to divide a sizable lot into three parcels to construct homes for his children, with the oldest child currently aged 12. LeFrak, who relocated from New York City in 2019, is undertaking this unique project due to the limited availability of waterfront property.
In the realm of journalism, Lucy Morgan, a prominent Florida journalist known for her fearless reporting, has passed away at the age of 82. Her death resulted from complications stemming from a fall. Lucy Morgan, who launched her career at the Ocala Star-Banner, once faced an eight-month jail sentence for refusing to reveal her sources while covering a series on public corruption for the then-St. Petersburg Times.
Shifting the focus to legislative matters, a law that overturns Miami-Dade County’s ban on pit bulls has gone into effect today. It’s important to note that residential communities retain the ability to enforce bans on specific dog breeds, but municipalities are no longer permitted to do so, as reported by Local 10. Governor Ron DeSantis signed Florida State Bill 942 and Florida House Bill 941 into law in June, leading to this change.
Lastly, Governor DeSantis has withdrawn funding for scholarships to four private schools in the state, alleging ties to the Chinese Communist Party, according to USA Today. These schools are located both outside Fort Lauderdale and near Orlando, specifically in Winter Park. An administrator from one of the schools has vehemently denied any affiliations with any government entities.
