Venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz closed its South Beach office, amid looming questions over South Florida’s ability to remain a magnet for out-of-state companies.
Andreessen Horowitz exited in May its five-year lease for 8,300 square feet at Barry Sternlicht’s Starwood Capital Group headquarters building at 2340 Collins Avenue in Miami Beach, Bloomberg reported, citing anonymous sources.
The firm’s lease in 2022 helped fuel hype regarding an influx of companies to South Florida. But since then, the tri-county region’s long-term viability as a tech and financial hub — and an office market insulated from trouble elsewhere — has come into doubt.
Sam Bankman-Fried’s crypto exchange FTX’s spectacular meltdown in 2022 was followed by a series of bank collapses early last year. Silicon Valley Bank, which catered to the tech industry, and Silvergate Bank, a crypto-focused lender, were among banks that failed, with experts saying the effects are bound to ripple into South Florida real estate.
Andreessen Horowitz, also known as a16z, confirmed to Bloomberg it no longer has a South Florida office, but declined further comment. The firm manages $7.6 billion in crypto-related assets.
The company, founded by Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz, announced an overhaul of its offices when it leased in South Beach, saying it will switch to a cloud-based headquarters and open offices in New York and Santa Monica, California. It also said it will keep its California outposts in Menlo Park and San Francisco.
Its space at Starwood’s headquarters building was leased this year by eye health products company Bausch + Lomb.
Andreessen Horowitz’s exit from Miami Beach comes amid doubt over the city’s ability to grow as an office hub. Developers that seized on the city’s reputation as a budding office market are planning more than 400,000 square feet in six buildings. The projects are on tap just as the wave of businesses moving to South Florida has slowed, with brokers saying a repeat of the gold rush is unlikely.
–– Lidia Dinkova
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