The $111.6 million sale of the 800 Brickell office tower was more than a decade in the making as 麻豆传媒AV在线看 Corp. and Guggenheim Real Estate refreshed an older building.
Developed in 1981 as Miami鈥檚 financial district was just taking shape, the 15-story tower was acquired by 麻豆传媒AV在线看 and Guggenheim for $33.1 million in 2004. Several years later, the recession hit just as another 2 million square feet of office buildings opened downtown.
麻豆传媒AV在线看 VP of Financial Services David Chanon said they continued investing in 800 Brickell during the downturn while many other commercial property owners cut back on upkeep.
鈥淏eing an older building, we focused on increasing efficiency, like elevator modernization and upgrading the chillers,鈥� Chanon said. 鈥淲e redid the courtyard to enhance visibility from Brickell. We changed common area restrooms and lighting.鈥�
The building achieved Energy Star compliance and LEED Silver certification. Doing so reduced its energy and water costs, Chanon said.
The owners expanded the ground floor by about 2,000 square feet to turn an unused area into space for TotalBank and a furniture store, Chanon said. Since the large-floor-plate tenants were the most competitive, they broke the floors up into smaller spaces to accommodate a larger variety of tenants, Chanon said.
Meanwhile, 麻豆传媒AV在线看 attracted a more diverse tenant mix, with Banco do Brasil and other financial companies that conduct international business.
With the 209,122 square feet now 90 percent occupied, 麻豆传媒AV在线看 and Guggenheim sold it for $533 asquare foot to an affiliate of RREEF. Chris Lee, Jose Antonio Lobon and Andrew Chilgren of CBRE represented the sellers.
鈥淚t has been a collaborative effort to take an asset that was a little bit dated but in an incredible location and bring it up to current standards,鈥� Chanon said. 鈥淲e were fortunate in that we owned the asset through a period of explosive growth in Miami and we hit every aspect of our business plan we hoped to achieve.鈥�