Monarch Alternative Capital and Tourmaline Capital Partners are set to acquire the 801 Brickell office tower in Miami for approximately $250 million, marking a significant record for South Florida office investments this year, according to sources familiar with the matter.
The 28-story building, located at 801 Brickell Avenue, is currently owned by Nuveen Real Estate. The deal, valued in the mid-$200 million range, is anticipated to close either late this week or early next week. The seller is being represented by Adam Spies and Marcella Fasulo of Newmark, along with Mike Davis and Dominic Montazemi of Cushman & Wakefield.
Completed in 1984, the tower encompasses 695,000 square feet, with approximately 415,000 square feet designated for offices, as indicated by property records. Nuveen, the investment arm of the Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America (TIAA), acquired the building in 2002 for $80.3 million.
Currently, 801 Brickell is over 90 percent leased, with notable tenants including investment firm Selvatra, Cassel Salpeter Bank, and Swiss Re AGroup. Additionally, BNP Paribas Securities Corporation, a subsidiary of European bank BNP Paribas, recently signed a seven-year lease and is slated to occupy a 7,000-square-foot office in the fourth quarter. Last year, Nuveen relocated its Southeast headquarters to this building, and Groot Hospitality’s Komodo restaurant also has a presence at 801 Brickell.
Amidst a slowdown in investment sales due to high-interest rates, the buyers of 801 Brickell are financing roughly 60 percent of the purchase price. The Brickell Financial District has shown resilience compared to other office markets in the U.S., attracting new firms to South Florida since late 2020.
Notable financial firms that have recently leased in Brickell include Apollo Capital Management, Canadian asset manager CI Financial, and private equity firm Thoma Bravo. Billionaire Ken Griffin also moved his Citadel and Citadel Securities’ headquarters to Brickell from Chicago.
This acquisition by Monarch and Tourmaline is the largest South Florida office deal since Griffin’s $286.5 million purchase of the building at 1221 Brickell Avenue in the summer of the previous year. The deal is partly a bet on rental growth at the tower, as new leases are reportedly securing rates over $100 per square foot, surpassing the rates for existing leases.
Monarch, an $11.7 billion global investment firm, operates offices in New York, London, and West Palm Beach, and is led by Michael Weinstock. Tourmaline, an office investment firm founded in 2021, has made $3 billion in acquisitions and has 1.4 million square feet under development. It is led by Brandon Huffman. Both Monarch and Tourmaline also have ownership interests in the Citigroup Center at 201 South Biscayne Boulevard in downtown Miami, along with CP Group.
