Repositioned Southeast Financial Center Sees Occupancy Climb

MIAMI-Despite a flood of new office space coming online in the past two years, a repositioned Southeast Financial Center is filling its square footage lease by lease. Florida’s largest office tower has inked four new leases totaling 13,584 square feet, bringing the occupancy rate up to 82%.

With the new leases, 1,004,500 square feet of the 1.225 million-square-foot building is occupied. The former Wachovia Financial Center has renewed 93,055 square feet of leases and signed 61,018 square feet of new leases and expansions for a total of 154,073 square feet of transactions in 2011.

“One of the biggest challenges facing owners in Miami’s office market is managing the expectations of tenants and brokers regarding what is a ‘market deal,’” Donald Cartwright, senior vice president with Jones Lang LaSalle, tells GlobeSt.com. “This is particularly true since many of the sweetheart deals have already been done and concessions are starting to fade.”

The new leases include international law firm K&L Gates, SAS, DHR International, and Accendo Capital. K&L Gates signed a long-term lease expansion of 6,365 square feet bringing their total square feet leased to 44,342 square feet, or two full floors.
 
SAS, a business analytics software and services company, signed a long-term lease renewal for 3,583 square feet. Executive search firm DHR International signed a new long-term lease for 2,445 square feet to establish its newest office in Miami. And investment management firm Accendo Capital signed a long-term lease renewal for 1,191 square feet.

“We are actively pursuing tenants for Southeast Financial Center which are thriving in South Florida’s current economy and have strong ties to international business and clients,” Cartwright says. Cartwright along with JLL vice president Nicole Vassilaros are the exclusive leasing agents for Southeast Financial Center.
 
Cartwright says most of the 151,000 square feet of tenants that signed leases this year at Southeast Financial Center fall into that general category, including Merrill Lynch Latin America, Morgan Lewis, SAS, Cozen O’Connor, Optima International, and DHR International. JLL is also seeking tenants that have a history of leasing space in top tier buildings in other markets.

“Renewals are a solid indicator of the strength of a building,” Cartwright notes. “This is especially the case in markets, such as ours, which experienced new building options that came online and impacted  the balance of supply versus demand.”