Swire Sells Miami Site Planned For Office Supertall For Over $211M

In a major real estate transaction in Miami’s Brickell neighborhood, Swire Properties has sold a prominent development site to the Melo Group for $211.5 million in an all-cash deal, according to The Real Deal.

The 2.8-acre parcel, located at 700-799 Brickell Avenue, was once slated to become the One Brickell City Centre, a 1,000-foot-tall office tower. However, Swire scrapped those plans earlier this year, citing difficulties in the current office market.

Swire had acquired the site from the historic Brickell family for $64.1 million back in 2013. The property sits adjacent to Swire’s existing Brickell City Centre — a massive mixed-use development featuring luxury condos, a hotel, office space, and an open-air shopping mall.

The Melo Group, a Miami-based developer known for building over 8,000 condos and apartments across Greater Downtown Miami, now holds the keys to one of the most valuable pieces of undeveloped land in Brickell. While the company has not yet announced specific plans for the site, co-founder Martin Melo expressed excitement about maximizing its potential “in the heart of Brickell.”

The sale was brokered by CBRE, with a team led by Robert Given and Troy Ballard representing Swire. Given noted how quickly the Melo Group acted to close the complex deal.

Swire’s decision to exit the project comes amid a broader cooling of the South Florida office market, which surged during the pandemic but has since slowed due to high interest rates and weak preleasing activity.

Moving forward, Swire intends to reinvest the proceeds into its upcoming Mandarin Oriental-branded hotel and condo development on Brickell Key. That project, which boasts over $1 billion in presales, will replace the current Mandarin Oriental hotel, set to be demolished soon.

Meanwhile, New York-based Related Companies — once a partner in the One Brickell plan — is now collaborating with Citadel CEO Ken Griffin to build a new headquarters for Citadel and Citadel Securities, adding another layer of high-profile development to the evolving Brickell skyline.