Witkoff, partners sell downtown Miami tower to East End Capital for $84M
10.19.2016 | The Real Deal

Witkoff, partners sell downtown Miami tower to East End Capital for $84M

New York and Miami-based East End Capital paid $84 million for 100 Biscayne Boulevard in downtown Miami, also known as the New World Tower. 

The seller was an affiliate of the Witkoff Group, Panther Capital Management and Highgate, Jonathon Yormak, East End’s founder and managing principal told The Real Deal.

The deal, which breaks down to about $270 per square foot, is another example of New Yorkers fueling downtown Miami‘s next wave of investment and redevelopment.

Eastdil Secured brokered the sale, according to Real Estate Alert, which broke the news of the sale in July. The deal has not yet cleared county records.

East End plans to spend more than $10 million on renovating the 310,000-square-foot, 30-story tower and reposition it with tech and creative tenants, according to a press release. The renovations will include upgrades to the lobby, streetscape façade, garage, common space and bathrooms, as well as a new conference and fitness center. Flex office space and move-in ready suites will also be added to the building.

Property records show the building last sold for $60.4 million in 2006.

The tower, built in 1963, is 85 percent leased to tenants that include LVMH and Zyscovich Architects. Asking rents range from $31 to $40 per square foot, full service, according to CoStar data. Cushman & Wakefield managing director Gordon Messinger will handle office leasing, replacing Blanca Commercial Real Estate.

East End financed the deal with a roughly $46 million loan from Annaly, a mortgage real estate investment trust.

East End Capital is already active in Wynwood, where it recently completed the Wynwood Arcade and is moving forward with its plans for Wynwood 25, a mixed-use project with apartments and retail. Yormak said the company is actively looking to acquire more properties in Miami.

The New York-based Witkoff Group, led by chairman and CEO Steve Witkoff, owns theWashington Park Hotel in South Beach, which it’s redeveloping with Highgate. Panther Capital Management is based in Brickell and led by Jeff Krinsky.