Trying to ‘plant roots,’ growing ‘family on demand’ startup Papa moves to downtown Miami

Even tech startups need brick-and-mortar offices.

“Family on demand” startup Papa has signed a lease for the entire, 11,420square-foot The Brickell Building at 66 SW Sixth St., south of the Miami River.

The announcement came two months after Papa announced it had received an $18 million investment led by Comcast Ventures. Papa pairs older adults and families with Papa Pals for companionship and assistance with everyday tasks.

Papa founder and CEO Andrew Parker said the goal of taking an entire building was to “plant roots” for his company and the South Florida tech scene.

“We want to show other tech companies that you can be right in the center ... not just in the middle of nowhere ... and maybe even influence people in the ecosystem to build a startup,” he said.

Parker envisions the space as “more of a hub than office” for his approximately 140 employees.

“We’ll gather when appropriate,” he said. “In a post-COVID world, we’re not meant to come to an office all the time every day. There will be no assigned desks outside of very few people.”

Papa had been working out of WeWorks, first at Brickell City Centre then at the Security Building downtown. The company launched in 2017 and operates in 17 states. It plans to service each state in 2021.

DWNTWN Realty Advisors Co-Founder Tony Arellano represented the landlord, Benzol Properties Corp. JLL Executive Vice President Jeff Gordon and JLL Managing Director Matthew Goodman represented Papa.

The two-story building was upgraded to include polished floors and exposed ceilings in 2017, according to the lease brochure. It also has a 2,502-square-foot terrace on the second floor. The landlord was requesting a lease of $39 per square foot, 6.38% below the average direct asking rate of $41.49 per square foot in downtown Miami, according to the Office Insight third quarter JLL report.

Office leasing stalled early in the pandemic, but momentum returned with lease renewals and then companies relocating or expanding into the market by September.

Downtown Miami continues to attract new tenants despite COVID-19 and telecommuting.