Brickell Office Tower Sells For $184 Million

Sabadell Financial Center, a 30-story tower at 1111 Brickell Ave., sold for $184 million to Madison, N.J.-based Prudential Real Estate Investors.
“We look at Brickell Avenue as one of the premier office and residential markets in the country. Brickell is a hot market,’’ said Jim Mehalso, a managing director with Prudential Real Estate who worked on the off-market transaction. “Residential is doing great, and 1111 [Brickell] is one of the top buildings in the market with an excellent roster of tenants.
Robert N. Allen, Jr., who represented the seller, a U.S. unit of Madrid-based Testa Inmuebles en Renta, said the sale was a “strategic move’’ for his client, which is part of the Sacyr group.
“With this sale, Sacyr pushes forward with its strategy of mature asset rotation and debt reduction,’’ Testa said in a statement.
The giant Spanish real-estate company had bought the class A office tower, which is adjacent to the JW Marriott hotel on Brickell, for $132.2 million in July 2002.
Major tenants in the tower, built in 2000 with about 525,000 square feet of space, include Sabadell United Bank, Hunton & Williams, Credit Suisse, Baker & McKenzie, and Telefónica.
Mehalso said Prudential, whose South Florida holdings also includes the 2525 Ponce building in Coral Gables, plans “modest upgrades that will definitely benefit tenants’’ at the Brickell tower.
Charles Foschini, vice chairman of capital markets for CBRE who wasn’t involved in the transaction, said Prudential got a good deal. “I believe the seller left a lot of money on the table. The reproduction cost of a building of that quality could easily eclipse $500 a square foot. With the three newest office buildings leased or leasing at a strong clip, Brickell rents are bound to increase to all time highs.’’
Foschini said the location next to the Marriott is a major amenity. “The original developers, MDM and Alan Ojeda, were visionary to provide a hotel amenity that is an integral part of that office complex.’’