Architecture Firm to Open 24K-SF Miami Office in Ground-Floor Retail Space
By Julia Echikson February 2, 2022 5:10 pm
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As office rental rates climb in Miami, some companies are turning to retail spaces.
For its new office, architecture firm Bermello Ajamil & Partners is moving into the retail ground-floor of a residential building in Coral Gables, a town in the Miami metro area. The company signed a 10-year lease for 24,000 square feet at 4585 Ponce de Leon Boulevard, a 367-unit rental property.
Thanks to the foot traffic and large windows, retail spaces can serve as promotional billboards for some companies. “It’s a way for architectural and design firms to show off what they can do,” said Jonathan Carter, a retail broker at Colliers who represented the landlord.
A grocery store, Epicure Gourmet Market, and a furniture showroom, Robb & Stucky, previously occupied the retail space. The 668,569-square-foot building, owned by Gables Urban, is located at the intersection of LeJuene Road and Ponce de Leon Boulevard.
Bermello Ajamil & Partners will relocate its headquarters from 2601 S. Bayshore Drive in Coconut Grove, said Prime Sites’ Monette Klein-O’Grady, who represented the tenant with Daniel O’Grady. The firm is expected to open the new office around June.
The deal comes as Miami office rates have risen thanks to an influx of new-to-market companies. Average asking rents for Coral Gables offices were $45.16 per square foot during the fourth quarter of 2021, according to data compiled by Colliers. That’s almost $7 more than the town’s retail rates, which stood at $38.31 a foot.
Besides Miami, Bermello Ajamil & Partners has offices in Fort Lauderdale, Orlando, New York, Long Beach, Calif., and Copenhagen. The firm is best known for its work on Norwegian Cruise Line’s Terminal at PortMiami and Terra’s Glass condominium in South Beach.
Julia Echikson can be reached at Jechikson@commercialobserver.com.
