Billionaire Ken Griffin inked a major lease for Citadel’s offices at 830 Brickell, less than two months after he announced moving the hedge fund to Miami from Chicago, with plans to build a new headquarters.
Citadel took roughly 95,000 square feet in a long-term lease at the 55-story tower at 830 Brickell Plaza that is under construction, according to sources familiar with the deal and Bloomberg, which first reported the news. Vlad Doronin’s OKO Group and Cain International are developing the building, where asking rents have hit $125 to $150 per square foot.
Recent leases have closed at $110 to $120 a square foot for full-service rents, and two leases at $130 a square foot are being negotiated, an additional source said.
At these rates, Citadel’s deal could equate to $10.5 million to $11.4 million per year.
Citadel is also expanding its space at the Southeast Financial Center at 200 South Biscayne Boulevard in downtown Miami, according to Bloomberg. The space is needed as the “shift to permanent building will take several years,” Citadel’s spokesperson said in late June.
OKO and Cain expect to complete 830 Brickell in the next six months, with tenants moving in sometime next year, Justin Oates, SVP at Cain, previously told The Real Deal.
In June, Griffin announced that Citadel, as well as financial services firm Citadel Securities, will move their headquarters to Miami from Chicago. The decision comes as Miami has blossomed into a mecca for out-of-state financial firms’ relocations and expansions over the past year and a half.
Griffin’s June letter to his staff did not disclose the new headquarters site, saying only that it will be along Brickell Bay. He retained Chicago-based Sterling Bay, led by Andy Gloor, to build the headquarters.
Citadel is the buyer of a 2.5-acre, bayfront development site at 1201 Brickell Bay Drive, Bloomberg previously reported and sources confirmed to TRD. That deal closed for a record $363 million in April. Citadel could also be linked to the $286.5 million June purchase of the 28-story office building across the street at 1221 Brickell Avenue. Citadel has not confirmed or denied the acquisitions.
Citadel also took offices in Palm Beach, leasing the 48,578-square-foot former Neiman Marcus building at 151 Worth Avenue last month.
Griffin, a Daytona Beach native who grew up in Boca Raton, has homes in Palm Beach and Miami Beach. Over the last decade he has spent at least $350 million assembling properties in Palm Beach, and recently secured approval to build a sprawling estate for his mother on part of his land. He also owns homes in Coral Gables and on Star Island in Miami Beach.
830 Brickell, which will span 640,000 square feet, is more than 70 percent leased, according to a spokesperson for the development team.
Chicago-based law firm Sidley Austin took 60,000 square feet on three floors in July.
Canadian asset manager CI Financial doubled its original lease signed last year to about 40,000 square feet in January.
Tech giant Microsoft; insurance and financial services firm A-CAP; and Marsh & McLennan Companies’ insurance arm, Marsh, also leased space between late last year and this summer.
And private equity behemoth Thoma Bravo took the top two floors in May of last year.
