Citadel Billionaire Ken Griffin Buys Miami Office With Goldman Properties for $180M

Billionaire Ken Griffin has bolstered his Miami real estate portfolio, partnering with Goldman Properties to buy an office building in Miami’s Wynwood neighborhood for $180 million. 

The 10-story property, 545 Wyn, features about 298,000 square feet of office space as well as 26,340 square feet of retail space on the ground floor at 545 Northwest 26th Street, facing Interstate 95.

Tenants include Sony Music Group, architecture firm Gensler and cryptocurrency exchange firm Gemini, in addition to the Love Life Café. 

“As Wynwood continues to attract the leading companies in technology, finance and music to plant their flags here, we couldn’t pass up the opportunity to acquire the largest and best-in-class office building in the neighborhood,” Scott Srebnick, CEO of Goldman Properties, said in a statement.

The Business Journals first reported the sale, though a source familiar with the transaction also confirmed the details to Commercial Observer. Eastdil Secured brokered the sale.

The Chicago-based seller, Sterling Bay, completed the 499,370-square-foot building in 2020 after buying the 1.4-acre site for $4.2 million in 2018 and drawing down $47 million in construction financing. Blackstone refinanced the property in 2022, providing $135 million. 

The purchase marks a return for Goldman Properties, which sold 545 Wyn’s development site to Sterling Bay and launched the gentrification of Wynwood, previously an industrial neighborhood, with the creation of the Wynwood Walls outdoor art installation.

For Griffin, it’s the latest real estate acquisition since relocating his companies, hedge fund Citadel and market maker Citadel Securities, from Chicago to Miami in 2022. 

That year, the mogul bought an office tower in Brickell for $287 million. Griffin also paid $363 million for a waterfront parcel where he plans to develop a 1.7 million-square-foot, $2.5 billion headquarters tower, which has yet to break ground.

Sterling Bay was originally meant to develop the Citadel headquarters project, before Griffin hired Related Companies. 

It’s unclear how Griffin plans to utilize his new acquisition in Wynwood. Citadel employees are currently stationed at 830 Brickell and Southeast Financial Center. 

Representatives for Citadel and Sterling Bay did not respond to requests for comment. 

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