Uber Inks Lease for Miami Base

3 MiamiCentral

Uber has signed a 13,000-square-foot lease with EQ Office in downtown Miami. The tech company will relocate to 3 MiamiCentral at the beginning of next year, vacating its current 9,333-square-feet base at Brickell City Tower after a seven-year tenancy.

Blackstone acquired 2 and 3 MiamiCentral via its EQ Office arm in March 2021. The seller, Shorenstein Properties, landed $230 million for the 330,000-square-foot mixed-use portfolio.

The 12-story 3 Miami Central, Uber’s new home, encompasses 13 suites across 95,000 square feet of office space at 161 NW Sixth St. The property also features two ground-floor retail spaces and roughly 12 parking spaces per 1,000 square feet, according to CommercialEdge data.

Uber’s 70 employees will share the new address with ViacomCBS, CONCACAF and Brightline, the railway company. A Publix supermarket and a bagel shop are currently occupying the building’s retail component.

The Brightline railway line, which connects South and Central Florida, runs through the heart of MiamiCentral, a short distance from the office building. Easy transit access and proximity to major investors played an important role in selecting the new location, Uber Senior Manager Javier Correoso said in prepared remarks.

Miami’s Top Office Market

Miami and Los Angeles are the only two U.S. gateway markets that recorded drops in vacancy rates in 2021. Miami registered a 14.6 percent vacancy in June, 10 basis point below the U.S. average, CommercialEdge data shows.

Leasing activity in the metro is close to pre-pandemic levels, according to a Cushman & Wakefield second-quarter report. In the first half of 2021, nearly 1.3 million square feet of office space was leased, nearly on par with the figure registered during the whole of 2020. The metro is also on a roll when it comes to transaction activity. More than 2.2 million square feet traded in June, a 223 percent year-over-year increase.