Miami’s Brickell Center Tower Nearly Half Sold

Despite only being half completed, the Brickell Center Tower in Miami is already the city’s most anticipated project.  The building is part of the $1.05 billion mixed-use project developed by Hong Kong based Swire Properties.  The development is Miami’s largest project at the moment.  The development is being completed in two phases with the first phase finishing in 2015 and phase II being completed in 2018.  The massive project will transform 9 acres along South Miami Avenue between Eighth and Sixth street.  Swire Prperties is building 5.4 million square feet of office, residential, hotel, retail and entertainment space.  There will also be 128,000 square feet of office space.  Brckell City Center is a source of pride for those involved in the project and many Miami residents see the development as a “symbol of urban sophistication.”

Nearly half of the units in the Brickell City Center Tower have been sold.  While the building will have penthouses ranging from $3 to $8 million and larger 4 and 5 bedroom units for between $2.15 and $2.7 million, there will also be more affordable units near the ground.  A one-bedroom unit will range from $580,000 to $700,000.  The difference in price between one to three bedroom units of the same size is based on their locations within the tower.  The first-phase units will be finished and ready for move-in by late 2015 or early 2016.

The project will use as many as 11 tower cranes for vertical lifting of materials.  The project is using an aggressive schedule to complete the project and thus the construction managers have tried to minimize delays due to site logistics and the project’s downtown location.  The development’s climate ribbon is currently being installed during the third shift to keep the project moving quickly and to have better access to the tower cranes.  The Climate Ribbon will create its own wind to cool shoppers.  It will span 150,000 square feet over the outdoor mall.  More information on the Climate Ribbon can be found here.

The project is creating an average of 1,700 construction jobs each year over four years and 3,700 direct jobs after the development is completed.  It will also generate more than $5 million in ad valorem taxes for the city of Miami.  According to Cheri Kavehersi, business services manager of CareerSource South Florida, the project’s impact will be tremendous.  “It gives opportunity to a number of people in the city over the long haul — not just for a year. Right now the focus is jobs related to the actual construction of the Brickell City Center, but there will be other positions available later on. It's very rewarding to be able to get our citizens back to work, as opposed to employing people coming in from outside the area.”