Lease roundup: Stephen Ross’ downtown West Palm project scores financial firm tenants

GTCR, Diameter Capital Partners I One Flagler I Downtown West Palm Beach

Stephen Ross’ One Flagler office tower that is underway in downtown West Palm Beach scored six tenants.

Private equity firm GTCR and asset manager Diameter Capital Partners leased an undisclosed amount of space at the 25-story building under construction at the foot of the Royal Park Bridge and overlooking the Lake Worth Lagoon, according to a news release from developer Related Southeast, which is Related Companies’ local arm.

Chicago-based GTCR, led by co-CEOs Constantine Mihas and Collin Roche, is expanding its South Florida presence, the release says. New York-based Diameter Capital, led by co-founders Scott Goodwin and Jonathan Lewinsohn, is moving its downtown West Palm office from 360 Rosemary, which Related also developed. Both are expected to open at One Flagler in mid-2024.

The names of the other four tenants, which are in the financial services and pharmaceutical industries, were not provided. Altogether, the six companies took more than 50,000 square feet, the release says.

Ryan Barr and Alain LeCoque of Colliers represented GTCR. Jon Blunk of TCRE represented Ross’ Related Companies.

The New York City-based developer embarked on building One Flagler late last year on the western portion of a 2.5-acre site at 134 and 142 Lakeview Avenue and 809 South Flagler Drive. Related bought the development site for $20.1 million last July.

Previously signed tenants are private equity firm Siris Capital, First Republic Bank and Chef Costas Spiliadis’ Greek seafood restaurant Estiatorio Milos, which will take up about 10,000 square feet.

The building will have 270,000 square feet of offices and 4,100 square feet of retail, according to the release.

Designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill’s David Childs, One Flagler will rise west of the First Church of Christ Scientist. The church, which sold the land to Related but kept ownership of its sanctuary, was built in 1928 and designed in the Classical Revival architectural style. It will be preserved.

Related is the biggest owner of Class A offices in downtown West Palm. Aside from completing 360 Rosemary, it bought the pair of Phillips Point buildings, CityPlace Tower and half of the ownership interest in Esperanté Corporate Center.

BHG Financial I The Main Las Olas I downtown Fort Lauderdale

BHG Financial grew its footprint at The Main Las Olas in downtown Fort Lauderdale.

The Davie-based company more than tripled its space to 10,000 square feet from the 3,000-square-foot suite it had originally leased, according to a company spokesperson. The new office will accommodate BHG Financial executives, including co-founder and CEO Al Crawford, co-founder Eric Castro and COO Tyler Crawford.

The Main Las Olas office is the executive hub for BHG, which is partially remote, with employees across 30 states, the spokesperson said.

BHG’s Al Crawford moved to Florida in January in another nod to the in-migration of financial company executives to South Florida.

The Gebbia family, which leads Siebert Financial and Rise Financial, have been scooping up homes in the region and also opted for a Florida headquarters for their companies in Miami Beach. In February, Richard Gebbia bought a waterfront Fort Lauderdale teardown at 1025 North Rio Vista Boulevard for $7 million, with plans to replace it with a new mansion.

Stiles and Shorenstein developed The Main Las Olas with a 25-story, 387,402-square-foot office building, as well as retail and the Novo Las Olas apartment building. The 1.4 million-square-foot complex spans a full city block on the northeast corner of East Las Olas Boulevard and Southeast Third Avenue.

The BHG expansion comes on the heels of The Main Las Olas signing nine office tenants for a total of 20,667 square feet late last year. They include aircraft lessor Azorra, Starboard Value and Raymond James.

Pet Supermarket, Miami Optical Boutique I River Landing Shops & Residences I Miami

River Landing Shops & Residences mixed-use development scored two retail tenants.

Pet Supermarket leased 5,849 square feet, and Miami Optical Boutique took 1,140 square feet, each signing a 10-year deal, according to a news release from River Landing developer Urban-X Group. Both tenants are expected to open late this year.

Miami Optical is led by Juan Farias, of Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, and Yamila Diez, a former market manager of For Eyes Optical. Both are doctors of optometry.

Urban-X Group completed the 2.2 million-square-foot River Landing in September 2020 with 360,000 square feet of retail space; 135,000 square feet of Class A offices; 528 market-rate apartments; more than 2,000 parking spaces, and a landscaped Riverwalk, the release says.

The project spans 8.1 acres at 1400 Northwest North River Drive near Miami’s Health District, home to Jackson Memorial Hospital, Miami VA Medical Center, the University of Miami Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine and affiliated institutes such as Basom Palmer.

Andy Hellinger and Coralee Penabad, through Urban-X, developed River Landing. Canada-based H&R REIT owns the property.

The two deals bring the retail space to 97 percent leased. In another recent deal, global fusion restaurant 30Sinco took 6,000 square feet.Other recently announced retailers are Häagen-Dazs, P.Pole Pizza, Carrot Express, CKO Boxing Gym and The Charter Agency. 

The office space is 60 percent leased, with tenants including Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office, which will occupy 49,379 square feet.

US Medical Supply, KW Property Management, Others I Westside Plaza I Doral

The three-building Westside Plaza office campus in Doral scored one new tenant, three lease expansions and one renewal.

US Medical Supply is opening a 28,000-square-foot office at the complex at 8200-8400 Northwest 33rd Street, according to a release from the property owner’s broker. In the expansion deals, KW Property Management and Consulting expanded to 17,000 square feet; Inktel Contact Center Solutions to 24,000 square feet; and Rivergate KW Management to 3,000 square feet. United Home Care Services renewed its 17,000-square-foot lease.

Steven Hurwitz and Doug Okun of JLL represented the landlord. Hughes Marino represented US Medical; David Valdez of Blanca Commercial Real Estate represented Inktel; and Donna Abood of Avison Young represented United Home Care.

A partnership among Denver-based Ascentris, as well as Highline Real Estate Capital and Square2 Capital, both based in Miami, purchased Westside Plaza for $73 million in November.

The trio has embarked on renovations of the lobbies, landscaping, signage and outdoor seating, according to the release. They also plan new amenities.

Westside Plaza is 81 percent leased, with three floors in building II becoming available in January.