Brickell Financial Centres Signature Tenant Set

By Risa Polansky
Brickell Financial Centre was to this week score its signature tenant, the first rising office tower in the city’s core to announce a major lessee.

Law firm Bilzin Sumberg Baena Price & Axelrod is to occupy115,000 square feet of the 1.5-million-square-foot mixed-use development at 680 Brickell Ave., said Loretta Cockrum, chairman and CEO of developer Foram Group, Tuesday afternoon.

The firm is to pay $58 million over 10 years, she said.

The lease was to be signed Tuesday evening. Ms. Cockrum did not return calls following the meeting, nor did John Sumberg.

Bilzin Sumberg operates now from the Wachovia Financial Center, 200 S Biscayne Blvd.

Glenn H. Gregory, a senior vice president at Jones Lang LaSalle, last month named the firm as a potential suitor for upcoming Brickell office projects, citing plans to expand from its current 95,000-square-foot space.

The Rilea Group’s 1450 Brickell and MDM Development’s Met 2, competing Brickell-area Class A offices also under construction, have yet to report signing major tenants.

Along with Brickell Financial Centre, they are to add more than 1.9 million square feet of offices to the area once complete. All are set to open doors in late 2009 or early 2010.

Leasing agent Sim A. Wilson III last month quoted Brickell Financial Centre rates at $45-$47.50 a foot, full-service.

Asking rates at Met 2 were in the same range at the time: $43-$49 a foot, full service.

Rates at 1450 Brickell sat last month at $26-$32 a square foot, triple net.

Mr. Gregory named several other possible tenants for the projects, including Deloitte & Touche, Greenberg Traurig, Hunton & Williams, Bank of America and UBS.

Brickell Financial Centre’s two towers are to include retail and hotel components. Advertisement