Erik Rutter (left) and David Weitz.
Erik Rutter and David Weitz
Managing partners and co-founders at Oak Row Equities
Since founding Oak Row Equities seven years ago, Erik Rutter and David Weitz have steadily made names for themselves in Miami-area real estate.
The real start was in 2021, when the development firm completed the Oasis in Wynwood, a 38,351-square-foot mixed-use development — and it nabbed music behemoth Spotify as an office tenant in a 20,000-square-foot deal. A year later, the developer landed Related Fund Management as an equity partner in a 40-story multifamily and office project now under construction along Biscayne Boulevard in Miami’s Edgewater. Across the street, it purchased a 2-acre development site, where it plans to build a 38-story, 324-unit apartment tower.
“For the last five years, we’ve been building up to becoming one of the largest developers in Miami-Dade County and in South Florida,” Rutter said. “And 2024 was no exception.”
Indeed, over the past year, Oak Row has cemented its place as a true power player. The firm went under contract for an eye-popping $520 million to buy a 4.25-acre, waterfront property, next door to the Brickell location where billionaire Ken Griffith plans to build his financial firms’ headquarters. While the deal has yet to close — and such a high number could prove risky — the price would set a record in gross terms for what’s essentially just land in Miami. Above all, it demonstrates Rutter’s and Weitz’s ambition to leave a mark on Miami’s skyline.
Over in Wynwood, Oak Row won over tech giant Amazon as a tenant at its 1 million-square-foot Wynwood Plaza, which is nearing completion after securing a $215 million construction loan two years ago. Amazon’s 50,300-square-foot lease remains the largest office transaction in the emerging tech neighborhood. The deal also renewed optimism in Miami’s quest to rebrand itself as a serious tech hub, just as leasing and venture capital funding was waning.
Amazon “had the pick of the litter,” Weitz said. “They looked across every submarket, at every building that was capable of accommodating them, whether it was a new construction or a vintage building. They also had the ability to get projects off the ground. And, of all of those options, they picked us.”
