1450 Brickell signs 26,000 in new space in “flight to quality”

Rilea Group, developer of 1450 Brickell, has closed leases with four
new tenants at the new downtown Miami office tower, with BNY Mellon,
Korn/Ferry Int’l, BroadSpan Capital and International Broking Solutions
taking on a combined 26,000 square feet.

The
leases follow those by HIG Capital, Bancaja, City National Bank and
Bilzin Sumberg for a total of 226,000 square feet leased at the
582,817-square-foot, 35-story tower.

Along with the
newly-renamed Wells Fargo Financial Center, 1450 Brickell has added
nearly 1.3 million square feet to the downtown corridor.

The two
buildings have contributed to a 3.7 percent increase in competitive
office stock in Miami-Dade County this year, according to a recent
report by Marcus & Millichap.

Suzanne Amaducci-Adams, a partner at new 1450 Brickell tenant Bilzin Sumberg, recently told The Real Deal that a number of firms were looking to move to 1450 Brickell because of the improvement in quality from older, so-called “feeder” buildings.

“The
theme is the same as when we first started marketing this asset,” said
Tere Blanca, president of Blanca Commercial Real Estate. “These tenants
are going to be taking occupancy by year end.”

Blanca said these
moves represented the continuing trend of a “flight to quality” from
aging buildings in the downtown Miami office corridor like the Wachovia
Financial Center, from which Korn/Ferry moved. She also said rates have
consistently been quoted at around $40 to $50 per square foot, although
financial terms of the leases were not disclosed.

The
building’s largest tenant remains Bilzin Sumberg, which leased 80,000
square feet, followed by HIG Capital’s 39,000-square-foot lease. Of the
recent leases, the largest tenant is BNY Mellon, which signed for
16,000 square feet.

Blanca said she had several other deals in
the works, to be announced soon. She also said that, unlike Wells
Fargo, the naming rights for the building were not on the market, and
the name would remain 1450 Brickell.

All four tenants are Miami-based firms doing just that, moving to 1450 upon the expiration of their current leases.

Korn/Ferry
is an executive recruitment firm. Broadspan Capital is an investment
banking firm which is currently at 1401 Brickell, the Santander Bank
building, and International Broking Solutions is a commercial reinsurer
which will leave its space, also at 1111 Brickell Avenue.