Ken Griffin Expanding Office Footprint at Planned Miami HQ Amid Mamdani Spat

Citadel billionaire Ken Griffin is expanding the office footprint at his planned headquarters tower in Miami and is considering whether to take additional space for his companies following a public taunt from New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, Commercial Observer has learned.

The mogul is scrapping the hotel component within the 54-story development, turning what was supposed to be a mixed-use high-rise into a stand-alone, 1.7 million-square-foot office building.

“We are focusing this part of our development at 1201 Brickell solely on commercial office space,” a Citadel spokesperson told Commercial Observer. “Miami is open for business, and the unparalleled quality of our development will drive the tenancy of leading global firms, including Citadel and Citadel Securities.”

The move was underway before Mayor Mamdani posted a video earlier this month touting a proposed 5 percent tax on pieds-à-terre. Mamdani filmed the video in front Griffin’s penthouse at 220 Central Park South, a part-time residence that cost a record $238 million in 2019.

Griffin has been weighing a larger footprint for both of his companies — hedge fund Citadel and market maker Citadel Securities — at the planned $2.5 billion Miami tower, with the possibility that the two companies could occupy the entire office component.

But no final decision has been made about the future footprints of the companies, per a knowledgeable source. Originally, the companies were expected to occupy between 300,000 and 400,000 square feet, with the remaining space leased out to other firms. 

The potential change comes as Griffin threatens to cancel an office skyscraper planned in New York. The billionaire planned to break ground on a 62-story project at 350 Park Avenue this year and had moved up the timeline to buy a controlling stake in the 1.9 million-square-foot development from partners Rudin and Vornado Realty Trust. 

The mayor’s action seemed to have struck a nerve at Citadel.

“It is shameful that he used Ken’s name as the example of those who supposedly aren’t carrying their fair share of the burdens associated with New York City’s often costly and wasteful spending,” Gerald Beeson, Citadel’s chief operating officer, wrote in a memo to employees, reported by the Wall Street Journal last week. “The project — if we move forward — will entail more than $6 billion of spending.”

Griffin will meet with New York Gov. Kathy Hochul on Thursday, Bloomberg reported. 

Site work at 1201 Brickell Bay Drive in Miami is underway, with Related Companies serving as the development partner. The scrapped hotel component was meant to occupy about 413,000 square feet across 212 rooms on some of the upper floors. The 23,600-square-foot retail space is expected to remain. 

Griffin owns a 28-story office building across the street at 1221 Brickell Avenue. Employees of Citadel and Citadel Securities are based out of 830 Brickell, where they’re leasing about 130,000 square feet, and at Southeast Financial Center. 

Julia Echikson can be reached at jechikson@commercialobserver.com.