Miami's Sabadell Financial Center Sold for $185M

The Sabadell Financial Center traded hands this month as Testa American Real Estate Corporation, an affiliate of Madrid-based Testa Inmuebles en Renta SA., sold the office tower for $184 million. Prudential Real Estate Investors, on behalf of investors in Prudential Financial, Inc.'s flagship fund, purchased the property at 1111 Brickell Avenue with legal representation from Chicago-based Mayer Brown LLP, while Robert Allen Law represented Testa.

"We look at Brickell Avenue as one of the premier office and residential markets in the country. Brickell is a hot market,'' said Jim Mehalso, a managing director with Prudential Real Estate who worked on the off-market transaction, in a Miami Herald article. "Residential is doing great, and 1111 [Brickell] is one of the top buildings in the market with an excellent roster of tenants.

Charles Foschini, vice chairman of capital markets for CBRE who wasn't involved in the transaction, said Prudential got a good deal. "I believe the seller left a lot of money on the table. The reproduction cost of a building of that quality could easily eclipse $500 a square foot. With the three newest office buildings leased or leasing at a strong clip, Brickell rents are bound to increase to all time highs.''

"With Miami growing in stature among the top business and financial hubs in the Americas, the timing was ripe for PREI’s entrance into the Brickell market," said Cathy Marcus, managing director at Prudential Real Estate Investors and senior portfolio manager for the firm’s core open-ended equity commingled real estate strategy. "With a location in the sought-after Brickell district and an enviable tenant base, Sabadell Financial Center is a perfect fit with our investment strategy."

Built in 2000, the 30-story tower is located in the northern Brickell Financial District of Miami offering roughly 525,000 square feet of space. With the ground floor dedicated to retail, the rest of the building comprises office tenants, reportedly 85% leased at the time of sale to tenants including Sabadell United Bank, Hunton & Williams, Credit Suisse, Baker & McKenzie, and Telefónica.

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