Largest U.S. law firm opening Miami office
The nation’s biggest law firm by revenue has signed a landmark office lease at the highly coveted 830 Brickell tower, another sign that Miami’s commercial real estate market continues to heat up as the professional-services sector follows technology and finance firms to South Florida.
Kirkland & Ellis confirmed Monday it agreed to occupy 115,000 square feet over six of the building’s 55 floors, giving the law firm with large offices in New York and Chicago the biggest presence in Miami’s premier office tower, which commands rents up to
$150 a square foot.
That is nearly twice the space what another legal giant, Chicago-based Sidley Austin, committed to in the same building this year. It exceeds what Microsoft, Citadel and private-equity firm Thoma Bravo have leased there, too. Citadel, which is moving hedge fund and securities operations to Miami from Chicago, already does business with the Kirkland and Sidley law firms.
Kirkland is the third global law firm from The American Lawyer’s top 10 in 2022 based on gross revenue to have signed a lease in 830 Brickell. In addition to Sidley Austin, Baker McKenzie signed a lease this year.
Kirkland & Ellis is also its final tenant even as the tower is not yet open.
“The building at 830 Brickell is 100% leased,” said Andrew Trench, executive director of Cushman & Wakefield, in an interview. Cushman & Wakefield represents 830 Brickell’s ownership. He said hed thinks “that’s the first time that’s ever happened in Miami with a Class A tower.”
The first new office tower to go up in Miami’s downtown in a decade was developed in a partnership by OKO Group and Cain International.
Chicago’s Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture designed the building giving it a futuristic, high-tech feel, and the interiors were done by Italian architecture and design company Iosa Ghini Associati.
Plans include a rooftop restaurant by a Michelinrated chef and a two-story bar on the 56th and 57th floors, a 30th-story sky lobby with a health and wellness and conference centers, plus cafes and retail.
Trench said 830 Brickell is scheduled to be completed by the end of March. Then tenants will come in and start customizing their offices. That process will take six to nine months, he said.
Financial terms of the Kirkland & Ellis lease were not disclosed, but according to the third-quarter report by commercial real estate firm JLL, the last few leases at 830 Brickell in the Brickell Financial District were signed at between $120 to $150 per square foot.
The city’s Central Business District saw its lowest office vacancy rate — roughly 16% — in the Julyto-September quarter since 2021. Downtown Miami asking office rents reached an all-time high averaging over $54 a square foot, according to the JLL report.