City Centered - S. Florida Business & Wealth

Brickell City Centre begins to redefine Miami

By Leslie Kraft Burke

With the completion of Three Brickell City Centre in late January, the long anticipated Brickell City Centre project officially opened for business. The Class A office tower’s first office tenant, Akerman LLP, one of Florida’s largest law firms, moved into its 108,000-square-foot space there in February, now occupying 80 percent of the building’s 130,000 total square footage.

There are high hopes for the 5.4 million-square-foot City Centre as a catalyst for a new level of urban living and sophistication in downtown Miami. The $1.05 billion mixed-use project developed by Swire Properties is located in the center of the Brickell financial and international trade district, and for the last several years, it has been the downtown area’s largest project under construction.

Double-story space shows a view from the river to the clouds

The overall scope of Brickell City Centre is impressive:

• 500,000-square-foot shopping and entertainment center – opening this fall

• 260,000 square feet of office space in two towers – Three Brickell City Centre and Two Brickell City Centre

• 780 condominiums in two towers – Reach and Rise – set for completion in April. Reach is 88 percent sold; Rise is 40 percent sold.

• 263 hotel rooms and 89 serviced apartments in the EAST, Miami hotel – accepting reservations May 9

• 2,600 parking spaces

Glass walls let the exterior view flow into a conference room

Two Brickell City Centre and Three Brickell City Centre, which were designed by award-winning architecture firm Arquitectonica, are 12-story all-glass towers offering office spaces ranging from 4,000 to 130,000 square feet. Two Brickell City Centre is expected to be open by summer.

The towers are meant to connect with Miami’s key transportation nodes, as Swire Properties is incorporating and upgrading the Eighth Street Metromover stop to exit directly into the project’s third floor for easy and convenient access.

The towers will also have direct access to Brickell City Centre’s 70,000 square feet of international restaurants, cafes and entertainment options. Adjacent to the EAST, Miami hotel, office tenants will have special access to the hotel’s large-scale conference facilities, which will have stunning views of the city’s skyline, as well as its rooftop bar, Sugar, and renowned Uruguayan restaurant, Quinto La Huella.

The Akerman Cafe has views of the Miami River

Both towers are LEED Gold pre-certified and feature state-of-the-art infrastructure and five levels of above- and below-ground garage parking. The buildings’ floors are virtually column-free, which allows tenants numerous ways to customize workspaces. Their offices have nearly floor-to-ceiling glass windows and 10-foot-high walls. Two Brickell City Centre also features a private covered terrace for businesses looking for outdoor spaces to complement their offices.

Both office buildings are part of the few connected to NAP of the Americas, Miami’s flagship data center facility that acts as a key connectivity hub for Latin America and the southeastern U.S. via a massive network of underground fibers.

Brickell City Centre at a Glance

• 9.1 acres along South Miami Avenue between Eighth and Sixth streets

• 5.4 million square feet of office, residential, hotel, retail and entertainment space, in addition to a two-level underground parking garage that spans seven acres below the property

• An environmentally progressive Climate Ribbon architectural feature that will provide innovative climate control so shoppers can walk in comfort between stores and restaurants

• Incorporates key transportation centers with the Miami Metromover while offering easy access to I-95

Economic Impact

• Approximately $1 billion in overall economic impact

• Approximately 1,700 construction jobs on average per year for four years

• Approximately 3,700 direct jobs and 2,500 indirect jobs after construction completion

• $5.4 million in ad valorem taxes for the city of Miami

• $1 million in annual revenue from parking surcharges for the city of Miami

• $6.1 million in permit and impact fees for the city of Miami

• $9.6 million annually in ad valorem taxes from Miami-Dade County

• $1.2 impact fees for Miami-Dade County

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