UPDATED, March 7, 8:08 p.m.: Developer Craig Robins plans to build his first Class A office building in the high-end Miami Design District, as the South Florida office market continues to attract new-to-market tenants.
Miami Design District Associates, a partnership of Robins’ Dacra, L Catterton Real Estate and Brookfield Properties, revealed plans for The Ursa, a 15-story office building at 30 Northeast 39th Street. Leasing is underway and led by the developer, according to a press release. The private equity firm L Catterton, based in Greenwich, Connecticut, is backed by the French luxury goods conglomerate LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton.
Despite the pandemic dealing a blow to in-office work, developers are increasingly bullish on the office market across South Florida, with new projects popping up in downtown Miami, Wynwood, Brickell and Miami Beach.
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The Design District office building is expected to have about 180,000 square feet of office space on 10 floors, retail space on the ground floor, and a rooftop garden deck that will be available for tenants. Arquitectonica designed the building. New York City artist Daniel Arsham, a Design and Architecture Senior High School graduate, is designing the public art, interior art and furniture.
Dacra acquired the property in 1995 for $680,000, records show.
The development is expected to be completed in the fall of 2024, which means tenants could move in that winter, according to the release.
Miami Design District Associates owns about 1 million square feet of commercial space in the district. The neighborhood is home to more than 20 restaurants, 170 retail stores, the Institute of Contemporary Art, and other cultural institutions. Tenants include Chanel, Tiffany & Co., Dior, Bottega Veneta, Hermes and Louis Vuitton.
In May, Miami city commissioners approved amendments to the Design District special area plan that would allow for a 36-story hotel to be built at 3750 Biscayne Boulevard and 299 Northeast 39th Street. The special area plan is a controversial mechanism that allows owners and developers of 9 or more contiguous acres to seek a slate of zoning changes that allow for denser projects.
The hotel, to be developed by Dacra and its partners, would be part of a larger mixed-use project that would also entail a 20-story office tower and a train station that could serve as a possible stop for the commuter rail service, Brightline.
Later last year, an affiliate of MacArthur Capital Group filed a legal petition in Miami-Dade Circuit Court seeking to overturn those zoning amendments.