Flurry of Lease Deals Totals 70 KSF at Miami Tower

Miami Tower. Image by Averette via Wikimedia Commons

Three law firms and a federal government agency have signed a flurry of lease commitments totaling more than 70,000 square feet at Miami Tower, Sumitomo Corp. of Americas’ landmark, 47-story office asset in downtown Miami.

Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani LLP inked a new, 9,726-square-foot lease at the I.M. Pei-designed skyscraper, according to Transwestern Real Estate Services, whose South Florida Agency Leasing team completed the four transactions on behalf of the landlord.

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The U.S. General Services Administration’s Public Buildings Service renewed its 32,735-square-foot lease, while Boies Schiller Flexner LLP renewed its 18,349-square-foot commitment. Lash & Goldberg LLP renewed and expanded across 9,949 square feet.

Sumitomo affiliate USPO Miami LLC snapped up the 619,094-square-foot, Class A office asset for $220 million in 2016, according to CommercialEdge. Built in 1987, the tower at 100 SE Second St. is one of the metro area’s tallest buildings and the only downtown office building with an integrated Metromover station, which offers free mass transit throughout the downtown.

The LEED Gold-certified tower currently has multiple blocks of contiguous space ranging from 40,000 to 60,000 square feet in the building’s mid- and high-rise sections, Transwestern said in a statement, noting that tenants seeking large footprints have limited options in Miami’s central business district.

The array of tenants was represented by a variety of companies in the newly announced lease deals. Tim Prunka and J. Tyler Wyant from Savills represented Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani LLP in its lease. Josh Hartman from Avison Young assisted Boies Schiller Flexner LLP with the law firm’s renewal, while Cushman & Wakefield’s Tony Jones represented Florida-based law firm Lash & Goldberg LLP in its renewal and expansion. The GSA was represented by Public Properties’ Payton Kulina and Teddy Seifert.

Law firm exits

The news comes after law firm Carlton Fields departed Miami Tower in the first quarter, leaving more than 73,000 square feet, according to a market report by JLL. The tenant relocated to 54,000 square feet at the recently constructed 2 MiamiCentral, now owned by Blackstone, in a rightsizing effort first announced in early 2019.

Miami’s office market continues to struggle, with more than 90,000 square feet of negative net absorption in the central business district during the first quarter, according to CBRE. However, the brokerage reported a burst of touring activity involving financial and tech firms, with 2.1 million square feet of current tenant requirements and new-to-market prospective tenants seeking a total of around 700,000 square feet.