When Daytona Beach billionaire Ken Griffin returned to Florida in 2022 by moving his Chicago Citadel headquarters to Miami, he laid the foundation for the transformation of a neighborhood.
This week, Griffin announced plans for his $650 million investment: a Brickell project that will transform the city’s skyline.
“The development of this iconic, world-class tower at 1201 Brickell will redefine the Miami skyline and further solidify this dynamic and vibrant city as a global destination for talented professionals and their families, businesses and culture,” Griffin said in a statement.
To get here, the philanthropic financier signed the largest lease to date at the 57-story, 90,000-square-foot 830 Brickell Tower to house his hedge fund and securities firm Citidel for five years. Citadel bought an office tower at 1221 Brickell for $286.5 million. Griffin also owns a site at nearby 1250 Brickell that could potentially become a 100-unit residential tower.
Ken Griffin, the 55-year-old Harvard-educated businessman and GOP donor whose net worth of over $35 billion puts him among the 40 richest people in the world, had his eye on the surrounding area for a larger tract. Griffin paid Miami developer Tibor Hollo Florida East Coast Realty a record $363 million for a 2.5-acre parcel at 1201 Brickell Bay Dr. in April 2022, the Miami Herald reported.
READ MORE: Billionaire Ken Griffin’s Citadel signs huge lease in Miami’s trendy Brickell office tower
Earlier this week, Griffin and his associates announced details of the property and filed documents with Miami-Dade County for the landmark tower at 1201 Brickell Bay Dr., including a site plan, in mid-August.
You may be able to eat, work out or even live in the community Griffin plans to build on all of its properties, centered around the 54-story, 1.7 million-square-foot office and hotel tower.
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What is in the planned 1201 Brickell Tower?
According to Foster + Partners and AAI Architects’ site plan for the 1201 Brickell site on Biscayne Bay, the tower would include 1.29 million square feet, or more than 30 stories, of column-free office space for Citadel’s roughly 500 employees, with the goal of encouraging in-person collaboration. There will be a conference and events space and a ballroom.
In addition, visitors will have access to a 212-room hotel above the office floors, a 460-square-meter wellness and fitness center, and a pool on the top floor of the tower. Restaurants and shops are also planned.
According to Citadel’s plans, Griffin’s company expects the hotel to include multiple dining options, conference rooms, a ballroom for large events, as well as a pool, fitness facilities and a spa with panoramic views.
“The tapered shape of the tower … creates an elegant accent on the Miami skyline,” says Nigel Dancey, head of the studio at Foster + Partners responsible for the design of the development.”
The design by Foster + Partners takes advantage of Miami’s waterfront location.
Citadel and Citadel Securities, which have been leasing space since the move in 2022, would be the anchor tenants of the 1201 Brickell project once it is completed around 2030.
Construction is not scheduled to begin until the third quarter of 2025, but completion could take five years.
View of the bay promenade and the water
The design of the restaurants will allow for outdoor dining along the street, Citadel said. The retail, hotel and restaurant areas along the Baywalk would be open to residents, visitors, tourists, hotel guests, and Citadel employees and colleagues. Restaurants and shops have not yet been identified.
Field Operations, the designers of the High Line in Manhattan, the Underline that runs beneath the elevated Metrorail tracks, Southside Park in Miami, and Knight Plaza, which connects the Pérez Art Museum Miami and the Frost Museum of Science along Biscayne Bay, are designing the baywalk, landscaping, and streetscape of 1201.
In 2022, Griffin, who lives on Star Island in Miami Beach, donated $5 million to fund the construction of Underline’s 10-mile linear park and urban trail.
READ MORE: Billionaire Ken Griffin puts on hard hat and celebrates final leg of Miami’s Underline
Citadel said the Baywalk public space along the development, which would open up a previously inaccessible section of the waterfront, would make the area walkable and give it a “pedestrian character.” Planners also promise connections to public transit such as Metrorail and Metromover.
“We are excited about the opportunity to work with our partners, city and county officials, and stakeholders from surrounding communities,” Griffin said in a statement, “as we revitalize the Brickell Baywalk for the benefit of Miami residents and visitors alike.”
