Miami’s Citigroup Center Emerges From $20M Makeover

By Barbra Murray

The newly unveiled Richard Meier-designed lobby space at Citigroup Center (PRNewsfoto/Crocker Partners)

Miami’s Citigroup Center is ready for its closeup. Crocker Partners, which acquired the 803,000-square-foot office tower for $262 million in 2012, recently revealed the outcome of its $20 million renovation of the property.

Citigroup Center’s revamp included a facelift, almost literally—Crocker restored the 34-story high-rise’s glass façade. And with the help of architecture firm Richard Meier & Partners, the lobby of the three-decade-old tower at 201 S. Biscayne Dr., was upgraded and the ground-level retail spaces were reinvented.

Crocker’s renovation program has also provided Citigroup Center with bragging rights in the local meeting space arena: the building is now home to the largest tenant amenity conference center in the downtown market.

“Tenants are looking for amenities that fuse work and play and we believe that Citigroup Center will be a wonderful addition to the Downtown market,” Angelo Bianco, managing partner of Crocker Partners, said in a prepared statement.

Even pre-makeover, Citigroup Center was a magnet for office users seeking trophy-quality accommodations. The building is home to the likes of Morgan Stanley and anchor tenant Citigroup, which inked a 15-year lease renewal for 125,000 square feet in 2015.

A STRENGTHENING MARKET

The Miami-Dade office market is the strongest in South Florida, and continues on the upswing, buoyed by an increase in employment, according to a third-quarter report by Avison Young. Class A space is in demand, with growth in the financial and professional services sectors leading the call for premier square footage.

Overall, the forecast for the Miami-area office sector is a sunny one.