Rod Barnes.
Rod Barnes
South Florida Market Director at JLL
The current focus for JLL in South Florida is preparing to handle leasing for the newest Class A office tower in Miami’s Brickell Financial District: 848 Brickell Avenue, a 51-story, 750,000-square-foot project that Key International and Sterling Bay are building on the waterfront.
“Brickell is the key business corridor in Miami, and so this will be the premier new-to-market development in the next three years or so,” said Rod Barnes, who leads JLL’s Florida brokerage operations. “This will be a prime trophy asset on Brickell, so this is extremely important for us. It’s in the early stages right now as far as getting marketing going and trying to find an anchor tenant.”
Barnes notes that while the “flight to quality” has been a major strength of the office sector nationwide, it might be even stronger in South Florida than in most other markets.
“Anything constructed prior to the 2000s will probably see some changes,” said Barnes of the market’s older office stock. “Tenants coming down from New York, Chicago or San Francisco will be going to those newer towers. Even some of the prominent Miami base, the larger users, will probably gravitate toward these towers.”
Barnes said he looks forward to building on the momentum of 848 Brickell to move JLL deeper into South Florida, as his division seeks opportunities in office, industrial and retail.
“We’re continually looking to grow our business,” said Barnes. “We’re looking to hire in the market. We think there are tremendous opportunities in the health care space, so we’re going to look to bring on some professionals with expertise in health care.”
The group plans to add to its agency practice as well.“From a growth perspective, those are the areas where we see the most upside: tenant representation, agency and health care,” said Barnes.
