Office building planned near Lincoln Road in Miami Beach. Find out what will make it unique
Miami Beach executives could have more top-tier office space to choose from near Lincoln Road, as another developer seeks to capitalize on the county’s corporate migration.
Bal Harbour development firm Arkadia Property Group filed plans to knock down the Exxon-Alton Gas Station that’s operated for 25 years at 1840 Alton Road, according to its application to the city of Miami Beach’s Design Review Board.
If approved, the fueling station site would be converted into a five-story, nearly 70,000-square-foot office building with an interior the developer hopes to design like a hotel and space for retail.
Miami Beach has a handful of these hotel-like office projects in the pipeline, following the popularity of combining hospitality with the workplace. New York developer Michael Shvo plans to replace the old Epicure Gourmet Market & Café with a Foster + Partners-designed boutique office building across from Lincoln Road. The city of Miami Beach has set incentives to add offices adjacent to the outdoor mall and has proposals from multiple developers.
Arkadia Property Group’s Alton Road office building proposal includes a Kobi Karp-designed commercial development, the same architect behind the renovation of famous Art Deco gem, The Raleigh hotel, along with Peter Marino. Karp also recently designed residential projects on Fisher Island and the Surf Club Four Seasons Hotel & Residences in Surfside.
“These buildings want to have amenities and common areas where it feels like you’re working in a high-end building like the ones people like to live in,” said Andrew Easton, vice president of the commercial real estate firm The Easton Group. “They want the workplaces to feel almost like a hotel. Quality always works. People are always going to flock to good quality product, whether that be an office, hotel or condo.”
Miami Beach city officials and developers are rushing to add office space to cater to the continuing influx of executives moving from across the country to Miami Beach. Many of then have moved to Miami during the ongoing pandemic and announced plans to expand their businesses to South Florida. They include wealthy financiers Ken Griffin, Orlando Bravo and Jason Wright. The city and real estate industry want to expand the office market to give corporate senior managers the chance to work close to home.
David Aaron, managing principal and co-founder of Arkadia Property Group, said two venture capital and finance firms from California and New York already contacted him about leasing, despite his Alton Road office building being years from completion. His project, he said, would be ideal for up to six financial firms.
“Businesses were married to certain neighborhoods,” Aaron said. “COVID showed us one no longer needs to be bound by a neighborhood, or a city, simply because of the industry that we’re in.”
Early leasing should begin late this year with the help of Blanca Commercial Real Estate and Koniver Stern Group. While Aaron said asking rents are still being ironed out, he’s seen nearby office space draw $100 a square foot to $130 a square foot.
That’s nearly as much as Miami-Dade County’s priciest office rents, approaching $150 a square foot at Miami’s 830 Brickell office tower. That’s where Griffin’s Citadel hedge fund and securities firm recently inked a five-year lease for hundreds of its workers coming here as part of the firm’s corporate relocation from Chicago. Citadel will operate from 830 Brickell while it builds its own officer tower nearby on a vacant waterfront lot on Brickell Bay Drive that it bought in April for $363 million.
Arkadia’s office building project goes before Miami Beach’s Design Review Board in September. If approved, Arkadia would pull permits to start the demolition process. It already checked with environmental engineers about the gas station and no environmental concerns were discovered. It plans to close the gas station early next year and start construction by June 2023. The office building is expected to be completed by early 2025.
Meanwhile, Aaron said a deal should close by late this year with Alton Road Supreme Services Inc., the gas station owner, for Arkadia to buy its property.
The swelling office supply may help Miami Beach reach its goal of diversifying the tourist haven’s economy, said Ricky Arriola, a Miami Beach commissioner.
“It is vital for Miami Beach to fiercely compete for its share of the influx of high-value businesses relocating to South Florida,” Arriola said by email.
“Our city has relied too heavily on the ebbs and flows of seasonal tourism to bolster its economy. Fostering a home for these innovative businesses makes us more resilient as a community and changes our role from a vacation destination to a premier proving ground for American ingenuity.”
This story was originally published August 13, 2022 at 4:30 AM.
