Brickell Bay Office Tower, Tere Blanca and Christian Driussi
Miami’s office market is beginning to show signs of strength, supported by foreign firms from South America and Europe looking to tap the Americas. What was once a trend of very small operations looking to get a foothold in Miami, foreign companies are now beginning to take larger spaces. [more]
396 Alhambra in Coral Gables
The 396 Alhambra Circle office tower has signed two new tenants, bringing total occupancy close to 50 percent. Accounting firm Gables Estates Tax & Advisory Services signed a lease for 1,080 square feet at the project’s South Tower, which opened in August 2011. The other new tenant is Ecuadorean bank Banco Pichincha, which is moving its agency office from 1111 Brickell to 396 Alhambra’s North Tower, which is slated for completion in the spring. [more]
Clockwise from left: Downtown Miami, William Holly, Danet Linares and Steven Hurwitz
The last two years saw more than 2 million square feet of new office space hit a market that was merely trying to scrape its way out of the downturn.
But, buoyed by a tenant’s market, that new space is rapidly being absorbed, with a rippling effect on the rest of the city and the region.
“We’ve seen the same trend that we saw toward the second half of last year, which is a positive trend, with new tenants coming to town,” said Christian Driussi, vice president and general manager at Brickell Bay Office Tower. “My feeling is that the market already kind of bottomed out, and is in a slow process of recovery.” [more]
Miami’s 1450 Brickell office tower has signed 23,300 square feet in finalized leases, bringing occupancy at the project to 73 percent. The firm signed leases with Gentrust Wealth Management, Forrestal Capital and Spanish bank BBVA Compass. The latter is a 6,652-square-foot expansion of the bank’s original 8,450-square-foot lease signed earlier this year. Current tenants at the 35-story, 582,817-square-foot tower, which is represented by Blanca Commercial Real Estate, include American Express, law firms Bilzin Sumberg and Berger Singerman and JP Morgan Chase. — Alexander Britell [more]
The Consulate General of Mexico has signed a 23,000-square-foot lease at 1399 SW 1st Avenue in Brickell, relocating from its previous site in South Miami. Blanca Commercial Real Estate’s Danet Linares and David Valdez represented landlord Chestnut Capital in the deal, while the consulate was represented by Holly Sime Realty’s Andrew Trench (who is now working at Taylor and Mathis). The consulate will officially move in the beginning of 2012, a move motivated by Brickell’s growing business and cultural community. Terms of the 10-year lease were not disclosed. — Alexander Britell
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Tony Puente landed at Miami Tower at the worst of times. When he took the assignment as leasing manager for the iconic downtown skyscraper two years ago, Bank of America had already decided to consolidate its space and leave the tower. Puente faced 50,000 square feet of empty office space.
The Miami office market has only worsened since then.
The vacancy rate in January hit 15 percent in Miami-Dade County, the highest level since 2004. And the worst may not be over yet. Two mega office towers — 1450 Brickell and Met 2 Financial Center — come online this year and Brickell Financial Center could open in 2011.
“With rental rates being what they are, a lot of tenants that go into a new building can occupy less space and there are associated cost-savings with that,” said Danet Linares, executive vice president at Miami-based Blanca Commercial Real Estate and leasing agent for 1450 Brickell. Puente, senior vice president at Fairchild Partners in Coral Gables, has his work cut out for him. [more]
Giovanni Tummolillo saw it coming with the explosion of condominium and office developments in Miami’s Brickell Financial District during the boom years.
The general manager of the posh restaurant lounge Sci Sci at Brickell, which opened in September, knew people would eventually fill those skyscrapers. And all those new condo dwellers and added office workers need places to eat, play and work out.
Tummolillo believed enough in the area that after closing the Sci Sci in Coconut Grove, he and several partners invested $2 million in the Brickell space. He went from having about a 2,000-square-foot restaurant that seated 140 to a new one that could sit about 250 people with 3,500 square feet inside and a 2,000-square-foot terrace. So far, business hasn’t disappointed.
“It’s been very good — very, very good,” Tummolillo said. [more]
When Tere Blanca resigned as senior managing director and branch manager of Cushman & Wakefield of Florida to start her own firm earlier this year, some questioned the wisdom of her timing.
Then others saw the writing on the wall. Within weeks, Cushman & Wakefield began eliminating executive positions from its ranks.
Less than eight months after Blanca left Cushman & Wakefield, the commercial real estate entrepreneur has picked up two of Miami’s premier listings — 1450 Brickell in Downtown Miami and One Park Square at Doral. Both listings were previously with Cushman & Wakefield.
Indeed, while many larger brokerages are struggling — CB Richard Ellis lost $6.6 million in the second quarter of 2009 — Blanca Commercial Real Estate appears better able to adapt to changing market conditions. Boutique firms like Blanca don’t have the debt that larger institutional players may have. [more]
Even as South Florida’s commercial real estate market faltered, Tere Blanca was readying a big move last autumn, from being senior managing director and branch manager of Cushman & Wakefield of Florida to heading her own firm. Blanca Commercial Real Estate has only formally existed since April, but its founder’s successes already include recruiting leasing and marketing expert Danet Linares from the Foram Group and the high-profile agreement to manage 1450 Brickell, a luxury office building set to come online early next year. The Real Deal sat down with Blanca to discuss flying solo in a turbulent market, winning clients in a recession, and her views on the Miami Central Business District’s office market. [more]
