Lease roundup: Restaurant, speakeasy, bakery ink leases at new Brickell hotel

UPDATED, Jan. 24, 10:13 a.m.: AC Hotel by Marriott / Element by Westin I Brickell

More than half of the street-level retail space is taken at the recently opened, dual-branded AC Hotel by Marriott/Element by Westin hotel in Miami’s Brickell neighborhood.

Three eateries and one facial bar inked the deals, according to a news release from hotel developers Robert Finvarb Companies and Tony Cho.

Cho is founder and chair of Metro 1, a brokerage involved in some of the deals.

Mexican restaurant and bar Toro signed a 4,500-square-foot lease; speakeasy piano bar Il Piano signed a 1,900-square-foot lease; and Venezuelan family owned bakery La Suiza Bakehouse signed an 850-square-foot lease, the release says.

Silver Mirror, a facial bar, signed a 1,700-square-foot lease, marking its first Miami location. The business already has New York City and Washington, D.C., outposts.

Julian Acosta of Keller Williams represented Toro in its deal. Valentina Grajales of Fortune International Realty represented Il Piano. Hector Antunez of Metro 1 and Luis Maggi of Prime Sunshine represented La Suiza, and Ana Barcelo of SRG Retail Group represented Silver Mirror.

Metro 1’s Juan Andres Nava and Bernardita Banfi represented the Robert Finvarb Companies and Cho.

Robert Finvarb, through his Miami-based company founded in 2002, has developed and invested in real estate in South Florida and beyond, building projects of more than $1 billion in market value, according to the firm’s website.

Finvarb and Cho’s 22-story AC by Marriott-Element by Westin hotel at 115 Southwest Eighth Street in Miami consists of 4,683 square feet of meeting space; a Rosa Sky Rooftop Bar & Lounge, managed by The Restaurant People; and 22,500 square feet of retail space — 10,500 square feet of which is still available, according to the release.

The hotel has 264 keys, which break down to 156 as part of the AC brand, and 108 as part of Element by Westin. It opened this month, after scoring a $67 million construction loan in 2019.

The property is near Brickell City Centre and the 10-mile Underline linear park that is under construction and will run underneath the Metrorail tracks in parts of Miami-Dade County.

OpenStore I The Gateway at Wynwood

OpenStore, the tech e-commerce joint venture backed by Founders Fund and Atomic, moved into the newly built Gateway at Wynwood.

OpenStore leased a 14,914-square-foot space on the 10th floor of the 13-story office building at 2916 North Miami Avenue in Miami, according to a news release from Gateway developer R & B Realty Group.

Stephen Rutchik and Tom Farmer were part of the Colliers team that represented R & B Realty. Adam Bernstein and Jeffrey Gordon of JLL represented OpenStore.

OpenStore buys Shopify businesses, and then uses its software in an effort to boost sales, according to media reports. Keith Rabois, general partner of venture capital firm Founders Fund; Jack Abraham, founder of startup and investment fund Atomic; and Michael Rubenstein, the former president of AppNexus, founded OpenStore.

In June, OpenStore raised $30 million in Series A funding, reaching a valuation of $250 million, and also raised $75 million in Series B funding, according to a November Forbes report.

OpenStore is the first tenant to move into The Gateway at Wynwood, but not the first to ink a lease. Oncology biopharmaceutical company Veru signed an eight-year lease, 12,155-square-foot lease for its global headquarters at the building.

The 10th floor of the Kobi Karp-designed Gateway at Wynwood is devoted to spec suites, designed by Gensler, that are fully built-out and move-in ready, according to the release. The spec suites, which now are being expanded to the ninth floor, start at 2,000 square feet but can be combined for bigger units.

OpenStore’s move is another sign that new-to-market tech and financial companies are making Wynwood their home. Previously, OpenStore along with Founders Fund and Atomic leased a combined 22,000 square feet at the Wynwood Annex. The three signed the lease in 2021, making them part of the first wave of tech and financial firms to open in Wynwood. Founders Fund and Atomic remain at Wynwood Annex.

Pardo Jackson Gainsburg I downtown Miami

Pardo Jackson Gainsburg inked a 6,000-square-foot lease at the Miami Tower in downtown Miami, marking an expansion of the law firm’s previous space.

Pardo Jackson recently moved into its 20th-floor offices from its former 4,000-square-foot space at 200 Southeast First Street, also in downtown Miami, according to a spokesperson for the law firm.

The 47-story Miami Tower is at 100 Southeast Second Street.

The expansion accounts for growth expected this year in Pardo Jackson’s real estate and construction practice, as well as its commercial litigation and bankruptcy workout groups, founder Stevan Pardo said in an emailed statement.

Pardo Jackson added one attorney and two support-staff members over the past year.

Jeg & Sons I Prologis Seneca Park in Pembroke Park

Prolific industrial developer and investor Prologis has signed another tenant at its Seneca development in Pembroke Park, bringing the project to full occupancy.

An electronics e-commerce tenant inked a 57,929-square-foot lease at Prologis Seneca Park, according to a news release from CBRE, which represented the landlord.

The release did not identify the tenant, but sources told The Real Deal it is Jeg & Sons, which currently owns its space west of Aventura.

Tom O’Loughlin and Larry Genet of CBRE represented Prologis, and Ana Rivera of JLL represented the tenant.

The master-planned, 1.1 million-square-foot Prologis Seneca Park will have eight buildings, with construction to start in 2022 in the final two, according to the release. The last two buildings will total 380,000 square feet and will have 32-foot clear ceiling heights, a rear load dock height configuration, Early Suppression, Fast Response sprinklers, LED lighting and spec office space.

San Francisco-based real estate investment trust Prologis has a nearly 2.9 million-square-foot portfolio in south Broward County. The deal at Seneca Park fills the final vacancy in its portfolio, according to the release.

In October, Prologis, led by Hamid Moghadam, sold two warehouses within the Weston Business Center to Nuveen Real Estate for $110 million.

Jonathan Guffey is Prologis’ market officer for Broward and Palm Beach counties.

Hefty bets by industrial behemoths like Prologis are coming as the South Florida market is booming, largely because of limited developable land and dwindling supply during a time of high demand.