(Bloomberg) -- A new Miami Beach office building seeking some of the area’s priciest rents has lured a posh New York restaurant brand to serve a growing financial-industry clientele. Most Read from Bloomberg Sant Ambroeus is leasing space for a full-service restaurant at the Fifth Miami Beach, a five-story property under construction and scheduled for completion next year. Sant Ambroeus, founded in Milan, has multiple locations in Manhattan and the Hamptons and opened its first South Florida outpost in Palm Beach in 2017.
Developers Sumaida + Khurana and Bizzi + Bilgili aim to fill the building with smaller financial tenants, such as hedge funds and family offices. It’s the first ground-up office project in Miami Beach’s South of Fifth neighborhood in more than 15 years, and stands in contrast to the tall towers filling the skyline in mainland Miami’s financial center. Miami Beach “is where the decision-makers actually live, and today, one of the best luxuries you could possibly have is to walk to the office instead of having to commute and be stuck in traffic,” said Alessandro Pallaoro, managing director at Bizzi & Partners.
New York-based hedge fund J. Goldman & Co. signed the building’s first lease earlier this year.
Wall Street firms in search of sunshine and lower taxes have flocked to the Miami area since the pandemic, bringing their wealthy employees and many of their beloved brands with them. Sant Ambroeus, known for its glam interiors and contemporary spin on Milanese classics, debuted in Manhattan in 1982. That Madison Avenue spot, and the original restaurant in Milan, are still operating.
The Miami Beach space will feature floor-to-ceiling windows and wrap-around patio seating. The restaurant will serve breakfast, lunch and dinner to accommodate office workers all day and into late evenings, said Amit Khurana, founding partner of Sumaida + Khurana. Sant Ambroeus joins other New York brands expanding in South Florida, including celebrity favorite Carbone, which settled in South Beach in 2021.
Cote, an upscale Korean steakhouse, and Marcus Samuelsson’s Red Rooster each opened Miami outposts in recent years. In a nod to the area’s booming gastronomy scene, Florida’s tourism board struck a deal with Michelin in 2022 to bring its restaurant guide to the state. Thirteen Miami restaurants have a single Michelin star and one — L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon — has two stars.
Asking rents at the Fifth Miami Beach are expected to be around $170 a square foot. That’s well over double the average for Class-A offices in Miami-Dade County, according to Blanca Commercial Real Estate’s second-quarter report. Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek ©2024 Bloomberg L.
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