Growing and Going: Brickell’s Boom

Miami, FL – August 30, 2022 – As transplants flock South and companies set their sights on the Magic City, new development has been sprouting left and right in various pockets of our city – and Downtown Miami’s cozy neighbor Brickell is no different. Twenty years ago, Brickell was a high-rise employment center where most sidewalks and streets were empty at sundown. Today, Brickell ranks 28th amongst the 49 “coolest neighborhoods” in the world, attracting real estate moguls, developers and companies from all over the world.

Most recently, billionaire Ken Griffin announced plans to move the global headquarters of his hedge fund, Citadel, and securities business from Chicago to Miami, purchasing a 2.5-acre site at 1201 Brickell Bay Drive for $363 million – the most expensive land deal in the city’s history. Shortly thereafter in June, Citadel purchased a 26-story office building across the street at 1221 Brickell Avenue for $286.5 million.

Cost of rent for residential units in the area has also skyrocketed in recent years. Average rent for a 1-bedroom unit in Brickell currently sits at $3,300, jumping from an average of $2050 in January of 2021. Long-term residents have watched this dramatic increase during the pandemic, forced to search for more affordable living elsewhere. A local resident living with a roommate in Brickell Heights said their rent increased from $3,300 to $7,000 in a two year period. In 2020, a luxury two bedroom / two bath would’ve gone for ~ $4,000 a month. Today, similar units go for upwards of $13,000.

Stores, restaurants, outdoor spaces and multi-purpose venues popping up throughout the area have driven significant traffic in recent years. “The opening and expansion of Brickell City Centre helped to kind of anchor Brickell’s 24/7 lifestyle, versus just a daily workplace,” says Andrew Warman, managing director of capital markets at PMG. A few blocks South of Brickell City Centre, the Shops at Mary Brickell Village just sold for $216 million to New York-based RPT Realty. The Underline linear park project, funded by the Department of Transportation and Public Works (DTPW), the Parks, Recreation and Open Spaces (PROS) Department, and Friends of the Underline, has transformed 120 acres of Miami-Dade County owned land below the Metrorail into a “multi-modal urban trail”, starting in Brickell and heading South.

All in all, the city’s growth is rapidly trending upwards with no signs of halting anytime soon. As people and corporations continue to move in while locals pack their bags, the look and feel of the city is sure to take on a different shape in the next few years – though some might argue it already has. 

Written by Raquel Martinez