Miami waterfront site sells for US$520 million in record land deal
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A WATERFRONT site in Miami’s financial district is set to be sold for more than US$500 million, marking the largest land transaction ever in the Florida city.
Apartment Investment & Management (Aimco) agreed to sell 1001 Brickell Bay Drive and 1111 Brickell Bay Drive to an entity managed by Erik Rutter and David Weitz, the founders of Oak Row Equities. The combined 1.7-hectare properties are in the heart of a neighbourhood that has boomed in recent years, after an influx of financial companies and new residents.
The buyers will pay US$520 million, Aimco said in a filing, with the potential for the purchase price to increase to US$540 million depending on certain financing arrangements. That would top the record US$363 million sale of a development site to billionaire Ken Griffin in 2022. Nearby, a 55-floor skyscraper at 830 Brickell received a US$565 million loan this year.
The Brickell site “presents a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to build a transformative project”, Rutter said. “A perfect blend of zoning, site geometry, bay frontage and location combine to create a truly irreplaceable piece of real estate.”
Oak Row Equities is a New York and Miami-based property company with US$2 billion in assets under management. Another firm, Mariposa Real Estate, is also part of the buyers’ group, according to a statement.
The firms plan to build ultra-luxury condos on the parcel, they said in the statement. The site, currently home to an office tower and apartment property, has roughly 148 metres of continuous water frontage facing Biscayne Bay and is zoned to allow for several towers as tall as 320 metres, according to the statement.
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The office vacancy rate in the Brickell district stood at 11.9 per cent at the end of September, compared with a US average of 19 per cent, according to a report by CBRE Group. Average asking rents in the Brickell area were US$88.69 a square foot, the brokerage said, with some deals closing at prices rarely seen outside Manhattan.
The tower at 1001 Brickell was the only office owned by Aimco, which controlled 5,600 apartment units in eight US markets as at Sep 30, according to a company filing. The deal with Oak Row is scheduled to close as soon as March.
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