Santander Bank Plans 40-Story Tower in Brickell
By Julia Echikson February 16, 2024 1:43 pm
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Santander Bank is the latest company looking to dramatically raise its office profile in Brickell, Miami’s financial district.
The Spanish bank wants to demolish its current 14-story office building at 1401 Brickell Avenue and replace it with a 40-story mixed-use tower, according to a filing to Miami’s Urban Development Review Board, which is scheduled to hear the plan Feb. 21.
The proposed 765-foot-tall development would house 612,918 square feet of Class A office space, 107,953 square feet for food and beverage establishments and 1,496 parking spots, with Rilea Group serving as the development adviser and project manager.
“We continue to explore our options, but no final decision has been made,” a representative for Santander Bank told Commercial Observer.
In 2008, Santander Bank paid $114 million for the office building, constructed in 1973 on a 2-acre site, according to property records. In 2017, it put the 236,877-square-foot property on the market, per the South Florida Business Journal.
The proposal comes more than a year after the bank inked a 95,000-square-foot lease at 830 Brickell, Miami’s trophy office development, which is nearing completion.
Santander Bank joins its fellow 830 Brickell tenant, financial firm Citadel, in wanting to develop office real estate in the neighborhood. Two years ago, the hedge fund paid $363 million for a 2.5-acre site along Brickell Bay Drive, where it plans to develop its headquarters.
But Citadel officials have yet to file plans for the development. This month, the firm hired Google’s former head of New York real estate Paul Darrah to lead its operations worldwide, nearly a year after severing ties with Chicago-based developer Sterling Bay, which Citadel had originally tapped to develop the tower.
Other office developments planned in Brickell include Related Companies and Swire Properties’ 80-story high-rise as well as Key International and Sterling Bay’s 51-story project at 848 Brickell Avenue, but both have yet to break ground. In July, 830 Brickel developers Oko Group and Cain International increased 830 Brickell’s construction loan by $57 million, bringing the total financing to $357 million.
Julia Echikson can be reached at Jechikson@commercialobserver.com.
