PGIM Sells Coral Gables Office Tower For $90M
Office building sales are few and far between this year, but Coral Gables has seen two properties change hands in the past month.
In the latest deal, PGIM Real Estate sold the 223K SF property at 355 Alhambra Circle to Princeton International Properties Corp., marking the Manhattan-based investment firm’s first South Florida acquisition.
The sale price wasn't disclosed, but a source close to the deal told Bisnow it traded for $90M.
Princeton is planning a comprehensive renovation and improvement plan for the Class-A property, according to a release. Cushman & Wakefield represented PGIM in the sale.
“South Florida remains one of a handful of markets around the country that continues to attract capital for office investment,” Mike Davis, executive vice chair at Cushman & Wakefield, said in a statement. “This exceptional asset provides both stability and upside as rents in greater Miami continue to climb.”
PGIM, the investment management arm of Prudential Financial, paid $83M for the property in 2015 using a separate entity for the acquisition, according to property records.
The 355 Alhambra tower was built in 2001 and is LEED Gold-certified with tenants including Merrill Lynch and Chase Bank, according to Cushman & Wakefield's listing. In addition to the office space, it includes a seven-story parking garage and ground-floor commercial space.
Cushman & Wakefield lists around 33K SF at the property as available at $55 per SF in spaces ranging from 3,023 SF to 15K SF.
In addition to Davis, the Cushman & Wakefield team responsible for the sale included Dominic Montazemi, Miguel Alcivar, Rick Brugge and Rick Colon, with assistance from Ryan Holtzman, Brian Gale, Jordan Spitzberg, Chloe Strada and Ryan Jenkins.
“We are excited about acquiring this premier asset in one of the most coveted submarkets in Miami,” Princeton President David Tawfik said in a statement. “We look forward to bringing our unique vision and contributing to the growth and success of Coral Gables.”
The 355 Alhambra sale comes about a month after Miami-based firms Torose Equities, Lndmrk Development and Terranova Corp. joined together to purchase an office building one block away at 255 Alhambra Circle.
A fund managed by Deutsche Bank sold the 220K SF property for $54M, according to property records, representing a markdown from the $60M Deutsche Bank paid to acquire it in 2006.
Stephen Bittel, the founder and chairman of Terranova Corp., said the partnership purchased 255 Alhambra in part because Coral Gables offered an attractive alternative to tenants that were priced out of neighborhoods that have seen the bulk of pandemic-era activity, like Brickell and Downtown Miami.
Rents in Coral Gables were at $49.82 per SF at the end of the second quarter compared to $78.50 in Brickell, $74.38 in Wynwood and $53.55 downtown, according to Cushman & Wakefield’s market report. The neighborhood had a 14.8% office availability rate, slightly below the 15.4% figure for Greater Miami.
The submarket saw one of the largest leases of the second quarter, with Ryder leasing 38K SF at 2333 Ponce de Leon Blvd. The Coral Gables office will serve as the transportation and logistics firm’s new headquarters after it sold its Medley headquarters in March to Bridge Industrial for $42M. Bridge filed a pre-application with Miami-Dade County officials in July to redevelop the office property into two warehouses totaling 330K SF.
