As demolition crews wrap up work on Banco Santander’s 14-story office tower in the heart of Brickell, plans for their newly proposed 40-story office tower are slowly chugging along. In fact, construction permits have recently been filed for the tower’s eventual rise, including a foundation and site work permit, a master construction permit, and a phased vertical construction permit. While all three permits remain under review, their eventual approval will pave the way for construction to officially begin on Brickell’s tallest office tower, surpassing the recently constructed 830 Brickell.
The first permit submitted, the master construction permit, has been under review for about 80 days and still requires several revisions before it can move forward. Coastal Construction is listed as the general contractor on record for the project. According to the building permit, the tower will include 634,890 SF of office, 38,865 SF of restaurant space, 35,542 SF of recreational SF, and 39,981 SF of retail. To house both patrons and office workers alike, the tower’s 15-story podium will include 519,500 SF of parking.
While plans filed to Miami’s Urban Development Review Board last year indicate the 40-story tower rising to 765 FT, new plans show a slight reduction to 758 FT. In all, the tower’s impressive height will rack a steep construction cost, with more than $200 million spent in construction alone.
The most recent permits filed, the foundation/site work permit and the vertical construction permit, were both submitted on March 19th of this year. Miami staff accepted the foundation permit in late April, while the phased vertical construction permit was only approved recently on June 2nd.
As of July, Banco Santander has yet to announce a groundbreaking date. While Miami’s office market has seen a sharp slowdown due to a steep decline in preleasing activity, it remains unclear whether Banco Santander plans to secure office leases before beginning construction or will proceed regardless of market conditions. The tower’s mixed-use design, including substantial retail space alongside office areas, could provide a strategic advantage in this uncertain environment.
Rilea Group is serving as the coordinating developer, with Handel Architects responsible for the tower’s design. The building’s design is touted as ‘among the world’s most sustainable office buildings’, with the diagrid design handling gravitational and wind loads, in turn reducing structural concrete by more than 30%. Along the tower’s facade, terraces will provide both open space and shading from the Miami sun.