The city of Miami Beach put a call out to see whether there were developers interested in constructing an office building on city land near Lincoln Road, and the answer was a resounding “yes.”
Seventeen development teams responded to the “request for letters of interest” the city issued in October 2020 for potential bidders to build Class A office buildings through a lease and development deal with the city. There are three city-owned parking lots just north of the popular Lincoln Road retail strip that could be developed.
The quality and diversity of the developers who expressed interest shows how strong demand is for Class A office space in Miami Beach, said Lyle Stern, president of commercial brokerage Koniver Stern Group and a member of the Lincoln Road Business Improvement District (BID). Many business leaders in technology, private equity and finance have moved to Miami Beach, purchased pricey homes, and are looking to open offices here, he said.
These new offices would benefit Miami Beach’s hotels, restaurants and retail thanks to additional spending by office tenants, Stern said.
“Miami Beach prides itself on having spectacular public spaces and these three vacant lots are inconsistent with that,” Stern said. “With these offices, it will be easier for people to make the decision to come here.”
Other developers have the same idea. Starwood Capital Group is building an office building in the city, its first major Class A building in about 20 years, and the Related Group secured approval for an office on Terminal Island.
The properties the city is fielding interest in total 1.38 acres at 1664 Meridian Ave., 1.12 acres between Lenox Avenue and Michigan Avenue, and 0.85 acres at the southwest corner of 17th Street and Lenox Avenue.
The three sites combined could be developed with up to 383,439 square feet of Class A office space through a public-private partnership with the city.
In a Feb. 12 letter to the City Commission, Interim City Manager Raul Aguila provided an update on the parties that responded to the request for letters of interest. The following groups responded:
- Miami-based 13th Floor Investments
- Mangrove Real Estate Partners, Miami-based Tricera Capital and Sasaki
- Miami-based Adler Group
- Northwood Acquisitions and Northwood Investors
- Design District Management (Dacra) and Adventurous Journeys LLC
- Oak Capital Group LLC
- Andalex Capital LLC
- R & B Realty Group LLC
- Miami Beach-based the Comras Co. and Miami-based Terra
- Miami-based the Related Group
- Chicago-based Sterling Bay, Place Projects and Deco Capital Group
- Miami Beach-based Galbut Family Office LLC
- David Mancini & Sons
- New York-based East End Capital
- Miami-based Integra Investments and Miami Beach-based Starwood Capital Group
According to Aguila’s letter, the responses will be discussed at the Finance and Economic Resiliency Committee meeting Feb. 19. If city officials decide to proceed, they would issue a request for proposals (RFP) to receive official bids. The City Commission would ultimately select a winning bidder, which would also require approval in a public referendum.
Stern said he hopes the RFP will grant the developers design flexibility to build a project that suits the market. He expects the bulk of the project will be office space, with enough parking to replace the city-owned spaces being replaced and account for the uses in the building, plus active ground-floor space and perhaps a rooftop restaurant.
Brian Bandell, South Florida Business Journal
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