SunTrust Center Wins New-to-Market Tenants

MIAMI—SunTrust International Center just inked over 72,000 square feet of leases. Some of the most notable transactions include Marcum's renewal of 14,000 square feet and US Legal Support's 10,000 square foot renewal and expansion.

Cushman & Wakefield senior director Jon Blunk, senior associate Cristina Glaria, and director Laurel Oswald signed 19,496 square feet of new leases, 4,826 square feet of lease expansions, and 47,946 square feet of renewals while representing building owner Crocker Partners. New tenants include Adstream America, HBA Architects, Cogent Communications, and Bressler Amery & Ross, Q-nomy, and the Italian Trade Commission.

Much of this leasing activity comes on the heels of Crocker Partners' $15 million capital improvement project. Completed in April, the upgrade campaign included 20,000 square feet of new speculative class A office suites, a 4,000-square-foot Bayview Sky Terrace, a new tenant fitness center, and a new conference facility.

"Crocker's capital investment in the SunTrust International Center has proven effective,” Blunk tells GlobeSt.com. “The enhancements have attracted new-to-market users while helping retain valued, long-term tenants in the building.” Miami generally has been attracting more new-to-market tenants in recent months.

SunTrust International Center is a 31-story, 449,000-square-foot, class A office tower located in the Miami CBD at 1 Southeast 3rd Avenue. The building is LEED Silver certified and offers on-site property management, closed-circuit television monitoring, a 24/7 security guard, and 11 high-speed elevators with direct access to a garage with the highest parking ratio in Downtown Miami. It's urban core location places it within walking distance of the Bayside Marketplace and a Metromover station with access to the Metrorail system.

According to Cushman & Wakefield Research, the downtown office market has shown robust leasing activity and rent growth in recent months. “Miami-Dade's Central Business District (CBD) saw strong leasing activity that edged the market closer to more landlord-favorable conditions,” wrote senior research analyst Mirta DeCespedes in Cushman & Wakefield's 2Q 2015 Miami Office Marketbeat report. “CBD Class A rental rates closed the first half of the year with continued positive momentum. Downtown Class A direct rental rates closed mid-year at $43.34 per square foot, an increase of 2.2 percent from $42.40 per square foot.”

According to CushWake, Millennials, who desire a live-work-play environment, are driving much of this demand. This demographic shift has been documented in Cushman & Wakefield's Facing the Millennial Wave report and further substantiated by the firm's Core Values: Why Companies Are Moving Downtown compendium. Employers and developers alike have been clamoring to meet the live-work-play demands of the next generation of workers. Miami is at the epicenter of this movement.