Companies Are Flocking to This Brickell Office Tower: Cushman & Wakefield Secures Latest Lease for Canadian Firm
Historically, Miami has really been home to large companies and Latin American headquarters but this is one of the first true U.S. headquarters being established,” said Andrew Trench, of Cushman & Wakefield.
A leading Canadian asset and wealth management firm is opening its U.S. headquarters at 830, Brickell, a Class A-plus office tower under construction in Miami’s Brickell Financial District.
CI Financial Corp. has global assets worth $254 billion and is the third major company to lease space at the tower in the last few weeks. The firm joins private equity firm Thoma Bravo, which will occupy 36,500 square feet, and tech giant Microsoft, which will occupy 50,000 square-feet in the office tower.
CI Financial leased a full-floor, 20,000-square-foot office. The move solidifies the office tower as the place to be, as several tech and financial firms establish a presence in South Florida.
830 Brickell’s ownership was represented by Cushman & Wakefield’s Brian Gale, Ryan Holtzman and Andrew Trench in Miami. Donna Abood and Mark Robbins of Avison Young represented CI Financial.
‘True U.S. headquarters’
“One of the things that makes this deal the most notable for the city of Miami is that it marks the establishment of a true U.S. headquarters for such a significant asset management finance company. Historically, Miami has really been home to large companies and Latin American headquarters, but this is one of the first true U.S. headquarters being established,” said Trench.
According to Holtzman, CI Financial wasn’t just focused on Miami, and considered other cities with no income tax before choosing the city.
“Our mayor has been so proactive in helping our new-to-market tenants here, unlike mayors in other cities. It’s been really beneficial to us,” said Gale.
For the team at Cushman & Wakefield, negotiating the recent deals has been exciting.
“While the news comes out and it seems like it’s happened in one week, these are deals we’ve been working on for a long time,” said Trench.
Is the best yet to come?
The team believes that the third quarter of this year will see more new-to-market leases executed than all the other quarters combined.
“It’s all happening now, but don’t forget a lease is signed, and it’s months and months of negotiations, space planning, tours, and it takes a long time to get a deal done. Just based on what’s in the pipeline, I think the third quarter will be a monster quarter for new market execution,” Gale said.
Holtzman believes once the tenants move in and start enjoying the building, more major companies will start to follow suit.
“Not just because they signed a lease, but because they’re calling their friends from New York, Chicago or L.A. and saying, ‘this is amazing.’ I think there’s going to be a whole new wave next year of groups coming in,” Holtzman said.
There’s always a challenge with a deal, Gale noted, and with rents up 20% in the last few months, it can be challenging for companies who aren’t paying as much now. Ultimately, the amenities, lifestyle and quality of the service and building are what keep people coming.
“Tenants are willing to pay the rate to get what they want,” said Gale.
The key to facilitating successful deals, the team said, is to broaden your network and build relationships.
“A lot of these companies are coming from out-of-market. Miami is a small town and, obviously, it’s a benefit to be in everyone’s good graces here, but you really need to find a way to connect with the appropriate people, in the appropriate city. My team has made a concentrated effort to do that, and proactively build relationships in cities we’ve been targeting in the last couple of years,” said Trench.
The 55-story tower, a joint venture between OKO Group and Cain International, is scheduled for completion in 2022.