New York Retail Mogul Jeff Sutton Pays $73M for Miami Design District Building
The asset is fully leased to tenants such as renowned architect Norman Foster and fashion label Missoni
By Julia Echikson January 27, 2026 3:50 pm
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New York’s retail maven Jeff Sutton (and his son Joe) have made their way down to the Miami Design District.
Sutton’s Wharton Properties paid $72.5 million for the Design 41 mixed-use building, alongside Todd Rosenberg’s Pebb Capital and Ethan Leavitt’s Lane Capital Partners, according to the brokerage that arranged the transaction, Dwntwn Realty Advisors.
The 84,748-square-foot building houses about 47,500 square feet of leasable space, including 7,000 square feet of ground-floor retail. Located at 112 Northeast 41st Street, the seven-story property is in the heart of the Miami Design District, a luxury open-air mall.
Since the pandemic, the 18-city-block district has become one of the most sought-after luxury shopping destinations in the country, with brands that include Chanel, Gucci and Prada. The purchase represents Wharton Properties’s first acquisition in Miami.
Design 41 is fully occupied with 12 tenants, which include the firm of architect Norman Foster and TriCap Real Estate Partners. Appliance manufacturer Bosch Gaggenau runs a showroom and office on the top floor. On the ground floor, fashion label Missoni, watchmaker Breitling, mattress maker Hästens Beds and perfume boutique Bond No. 9 operate boutiques.
In 2017, Benjamin Norton’s Design Development Partners completed the building, which sits on a 0.3-acre site and was designed by the Mexican architect Enrique Norten. In 2024, Kawa Capital provided a $45 million refinancing loan backing the asset.
The purchase comes about two years after Jeff Sutton sold some of his marquee retail buildings in New York for record prices. In 2024, Gucci’s parent company Kering purchased Wharton’s retail condo at 715 and 717 Fifth Avenue for nearly $1 billion, while Prada spent $835 million for properties at 720 and 724 Fifth Avenue.
Jeff Sutton declined to comment. Representatives for New York-based Lane Capital Partners and Boca Raton-based Pebb Equities also did not respond to requests for comment. A representative for Design Development Partners could not be reached for comment.
Julia Echikson can be reached at jechikson@commercialobserver.com.
