Billionaire hedge fund manager Ken Griffin’s bet on Miami’s Brickell office market is boosting the neighborhood’s cachet among out-of-town executive condo buyers, according to a trio of experts addressing thousands of real estate professionals on Wednesday.
Griffin is spearheading the development of a planned $1 billion 54-story mixed-use tower with a 212-room hotel and 1.3 million square feet of offices that will primarily house the new headquarters for his firms, Citadel and Citadel Securities.
“I think the Citadel effect is real,” said Camilo Miguel Jr., CEO of Miami-based Mast Capital. “We have sold to some Citadel execs. [Griffin’s] organization is not the only organization moving down here, but certainly he is the most impactful.”
Miguel joined Miami-based Fortune International Realty CEO Edgardo Defortuna and Swire Properties President Henry Bott in kicking off the first day of The Real Deal South Florida Real Estate Forum. They headlined the panel, “Who Wins Betting Big on Brickell Condos?” moderated by TRD Residential Bureau Chief Katherine Kallergis.
Miguel’s firm recently broke ground on Cipriani Residences Miami, a planned 80-story tower with 297 condos at 1421 South Miami Avenue. The project marks the first U.S. project for Cipriani, an Italian hospitality company that owns luxury restaurants and nightclubs across the globe.
Along with Citadel, other major financial services and law firms are flocking to Brickell, including Kirkland & Ellis, Sidley Austin and Winston & Strawn. They, in turn, have created a steady stream of new buyers seeking units at the Cipriani project and other planned branded developments in the neighborhood, Miguel said.
“We have sold [units at prices] north of $3,000 a square foot, which is historic,” Miguel said. “We have to sell for higher numbers because the market is embracing it.”
Other branded condo projects in Brickell attracting out-of-state buyers include St. Regis Residences, a planned 46-story building with 150 units at 1809 Brickell Avenue, and Residences at Mandarin Oriental, Miami, a planned two-tower project with 286 condos, 121 hotel rooms and 28 condo-hotel units at 500 Brickell Key Avenue, said Defortuna. His brokerage is handling sales for Cipriani, St. Regis and Mandarin Oriental.
Coconut Grove-based Related Group and Miami-based Integra Investments are developing St. Regis. Swire Properties is developing The Mandarin Oriental project and is also planning a 1,000-foot-tall Brickell office skyscraper in a joint venture with Steve Ross’ recently formed Related Ross.
“The other day, Steve Ross came by to visit the Mandarin sales center,” Defortuna recalled. “He said, ‘You guys are selling [units] for way too cheap.’ The potential appreciation of these new units is very high.”
While Griffin’s entrance into the Brickell real estate market is having a positive impact, the neighborhood has been building momentum over the past decade, Swire’s Bott said. “Ken has done a great job raising the profile of Miami, but the appeal of Brickell [was] there before. Perhaps that is why he chose Brickell.”
Bott claimed some of Brickell’s rising popularity is partly due to Swire’s investments in the neighborhood. He pointed to the firm’s development of Brickell City Centre, a massive mixed-use project of condos, offices, a hotel and a high-end shopping mall.
“With that densification, there’s been a shift that allowed Brickell to reach a sweet spot,” Bott said. “Developers who want to capture that demand need to differentiate themselves. That’s why you are seeing this proliferation of branded projects in Brickell.”
