Sterling Bay Enters Miami With Creative Office Project

By Gail Kalinoski

545wyn

Sterling Bay, the Chicago-based developer known for developing urban campuses for companies like Google, McDonald’s, Uber and Tyson Foods in the city’s West Loop and Fulton Market, and institutional investors advised by J.P. Morgan Asset Management, have completed the purchase of property in Miami’s Wynwood district for $18.9 million. The acquisition enables the partners to move forward with the construction of a mixed-use 325,000-square-foot development.

Located at 545 NW 26th St., the 10-story Class A creative office project was designed by Gensler and has been named 545wyn. The structure will include more than 298,000 square feet of office space on oversized floor plates ranging from 16,000 square feet to 36,000 square feet. The ground floor will feature 26,000 square feet of retail with a heavy emphasis on food and beverage. The building will have 420 parking spaces on floors two through four and an 18,000-square-foot amenities floor offering an indoor/outdoor collaborative space, conference rooms, a wellness center and private tenant open-air balconies.

“Situated at the center of Miami’s most bustling neighborhood for growth, 545wyn will be developed by our team at Sterling Bay along with our partners, J.P. Morgan, with three simple, yet crucial goals in mind. To deliver an unprecedented, immersive office and retail experience in the City of Miami, to preserve Wynwood’s artistic charm and to engage the surrounding neighborhood thoughtfully both inside the building and out,” Andy Gloor, Sterling Bay’s managing partner, said in a prepared statement.

Office frenzy

To preserve the artistic roots of the Wynwood district, the developer will reserve the west façade of the office tower as a canvas for murals by local artists. All the parking decks will also be designed to accommodate murals and mosaics that will be visible from the street. CBRE has been tapped as the exclusive office leasing partner.

545wyn

While 545wyn is deemed to be the first true Class A office space in the Wynwood Arts District, at least five other office and mixed-use projects are underway in the area that has now been rezoned. In February, R&B Realty began site preparations and leasing for The Gateway at Wynwood, a 420,000-square-foot office building at 2916 N. Miami Ave., at the intersection with Northwest 29 Street. The Gateway will also include street-level retail. Colliers International was selected to oversee leasing at the property.

Prolific portfolio

Back in Chicago, Sterling Bay continues the acquisition of properties for development and redevelopment. The firm’s portfolio totals more than $3 billion and its pipeline amounts to roughly $8.7 billion. In February, Sterling Bay and J.P. Morgan Asset Management teamed up to acquire 600 W. Chicago Ave.—a 1.6 million-square-foot property that had been built in 1908 as a Montgomery Ward catalog warehouse—for $510 million, from Equity Commonwealth. The building is now Groupon’s headquarters and 94 percent leased.

In April, Sterling Bay received a $181.6 million construction loan secured by HFF through Wells Fargo to develop a 19-story, 548,900-square-foot Class A office tower on Chicago’s Near West Side. The building at 333 N. Green St. in the Fulton Market neighborhood was 47 percent preleased at that time to GroupM and its parent company, WPP.

Images courtesy of Sterling Bay