Silicon Valley’s Founders Fund inks Miami lease

Firm’s founders include Peter Thiel and Keith Rabois, who both purchased Miami Beach homes

Founders Fund partners Peter Thiel and Keith Rabois (Getty/Illustration by Kevin Rebong for The Real Deal)
Founders Fund partners Peter Thiel and Keith Rabois (Getty/Illustration by Kevin Rebong for The Real Deal)

Founders Fund, the major Silicon Valley venture capital firm with billions of dollars in capital under management, is planting a flag in Miami.

Founders Fund inked a one-year lease at Brickell City Tower at 80 Southwest Eighth Street, taking 2,073 square feet at the Brickell office building, according to a press release from Blanca Commercial Real Estate.

PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel, a founding partner of the venture capital firm, and Keith Rabois, a general partner and a member of the “PayPal Mafia,” both purchased Miami Beach homes in recent months. Rabois, a co-founder of Opendoor, paid $29 million for a Venetian Islands mansion in December, and Thiel paid $18 million for two adjacent homes, also on the Venetian Islands, months earlier.

Rabois is among the tech investors who have been vocal about his admiration for Miami and Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, who has been working to attract Big Tech on social media. Suarez’s viral moment occurred in December when he responded to Delian Asparouhov’s tweet proposing moving Silicon Valley to Miami, asking “How can I help?” Asparouhov is a principal at Founders Fund.

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Founders Fund’s investments include SpaceX, Airbnb, Facebook, Palantir Technologies and Postmates.

Adam Bernstein of JLL represented Founders Fund in the office lease. Danet Linares and Andres Del Corral, along with Tere Blanca, represented the landlord, New York Life Investors. Uber has been a tenant since 2015, and other tenants include the Beacon Council and the South Florida Business Journal.

Discover International, a biotech and sciences recruitment firm, also secured a lease for nearly 4,900 square feet at the 288,000-square-foot building. Brad Dinneen of Stiles represented the tenant.