Miami Office Tower Goes on Law Firm Run

MIAMI—Southeast Financial Center just inked a 27,054-square-foot lease with one of the oldest national law firms in the country. Arnstein & Lehr signed a lease renewal and expansion at the 1.225 million-square-foot tower. The law firm has taken down more and more office space, expanding and renewing consistently over the past six years.

"When Arnstein & Lehr initially secured space on the 36th floor at Southeast Financial Center, they understood the importance of a prestigious address," says Nicole Vassilaros, vice president with Jones Lang LaSalle, who represented the landlord in the lease transaction. "Their growth and recommitment to our building is parallel with our property's significant improvements and underscores the vitality in the address."

Arnstein & Lehr is one of a string of noteworthy legal leases at Southeast Financial Center over the past three months. Others include Shutts & Bowen's 69,155-square-foot lease and White & Case's 57,494-square-foot renewal. According to JLL, these transactions are consistent with fourth quarter Miami office market reports, which indicated that law firms continue to lead the CBD market in terms of demand of total square footage.

In today's competitive marketplace, efficiencies in design and floor plans, collaboration and creativity are influencing many companies' demand for office space. According to a recent study by CoreNet Global, this will only grow in importance as the average space per worker continues to decrease.

"Our ability to facilitate the design needs and space requirements of the legal community has enabled us to secure 24 law firm tenants which span 431,588 square feet of space, eleven of which are currently listed on the 2013 National Law Journal 350," says Donald Cartwright, senior vice president of JLL. Cartwright and Vassilaros are the exclusive leasing agents for Southeast Financial Center. Donna Abood of Colliers International represented Arnstein & Lehr.