Developers kicked off 2025 by announcing the priciest commercial property deal on record in Miami's only neighborhood that allows the construction of supertall towers, the latest sign of a development surge across the city's financial district.
Oak Row Equities, a private equity and real estate development firm based in New York and Miami, and Mariposa Real Estate said they put a 4.25-acre site in Miami under contract for $520 million.
The property, 1001 and 1111 Brickell Bay Drive, are owned by Denver-based Aimco. The deal is expected to close by the fourth quarter of 2025. The location is home to a 32-story office building, originally constructed in 1985, and a 357-unit, 31-story apartment complex built in 1998.
The assemblage is the largest waterfront parcel of its kind, located along Biscayne Bay with 485 feet of waterfront access. The property is zoned for over 3 million square feet of development and is in the sole neighborhood where supertall towers, or buildings over 984 feet, can be built.
The sale breaks the neighborhood record for a land deal. A $363 million deal previously held the record when, in 2022, Ken Griffin, the CEO of hedge fund Citadel, acquired a site at 1201 Brickell Bay Drive, just down the street, for a future supertall headquarters tower.
Oak Row Equities' managing partners said they plan luxury condominiums on the site, but declined to discuss potential building heights.
The property is where "zoning, site geometry, bay frontage, and location combine to create a truly irreplaceable piece of real estate,” said Erik Rutter, managing partner at the firm, in a statement from the buyers. The property represents a “once-in-lifetime opportunity to build a transformative project in the most exciting submarket in the city of Miami,” he added.
Additional plans for the “ultra-luxury” condominiums planned at the sight have yet to be announced. High-end condominiums have been booming across Miami, driven primarily by an influx of relocations from well-off individuals and families moving from high-tax states in the Northeast and California.
"Waterfront property of this caliber, size, and scale demands the best in design and we intend to collaborate with world-class talent to bring our vision to life," said David Weitz, a managing partner at Oak Row Equities, in the release.
In addition to being neighbors with Citadel's new headquarters, Santander Bank is also redeveloping its old office building in favor of a new 41-story tower three blocks away along Brickell Avenue.
Oak Row’s other projects in Miami include Wynwood Plaza, a nearly complete one-million-square-foot mixed-use campus in the city’s arts district, as well as the under-construction office-and-apartment project, 2600 Biscayne, in Edgewater. The team is also planning First & Fifth, a new apartment tower in downtown Miami.