Ken Griffin Pays $83M for High Street Retail Property in Palm Beach
By Julia Echikson July 18, 2023 6:22 pm
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Continuing his South Florida shopping spree, billionaire Ken Griffin has snapped up a building on Palm Beach’s swanky Worth Avenue that’s right next door to a property he bought last year.
The founder and CEO of hedge fund Citadel paid $83 million for the three-story mixed-use building at 125 Worth Avenue, property records show.
The sale marks the second purchase for the Citadel ecosystem on the shopping street, which is home to Chanel, Louis Vuitton and Gucci stores. Last year, the financial firm acquired the neighboring two-story property, which previously housed a Neiman Marcus department store, for $78 million. Together, the assemblage spans 1.8 acres.
Griffin’s newly acquired building spans 49,401 square feet on a 0.7-acre site. Frisbie Group and Dreyfuss Property Management bought the property, which houses galleries and stores on the ground floor and offices on the top floors, for $30 million in 2017.
The property could potentially serve as Citadel’s offices, but it’s unclear whether the firm will keep the existing structures. A spokesperson for the company did not comment on the plans for the property, divulging only that Griffin, not Citadel, had purchased the building.
The acquisitions come as Citadel is relocating its global headquarters from Chicago to Miami. Last year, the company bought a 2.5-acre site for $363 million, where it’s in the early stages of developing an office tower.
In the meantime, Citadel has set up shop at Southeast Financial Center and is leasing space at 830 Brickell.
On the personal front, Griffin has also spent big dollars on properties. In Palm Beach, his 25-acre oceanfront assemblage, just south of former President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago compound, cost $450 million.
The CEO also bought a Miami Beach mansion for $75 million and another near Brickell for $107 million between 2021 and 2022. Both purchases were records for Miami.
Julia Echikson can be reached at jechikson@commercialobserver.com.
