Client Applies for New Office Building

Oppenheim-designed office building proposed in Miami-Dade

An office building crafted by Oppenheim Architecutre + Design has been proposed near Aventura.

Miami-Dade County officials received an application for the project on April 5 from 2655 Developers LLC. It wants to build a six-story office building at 2655 N.E. 186th Terrace, which is on the west side of the Florida East Coast Railroad and just east of West Dixie Highway. The site currently has an auto repair shop.

Although the proposal is called “Miami Gardens Office Building,” the project is close to Aventura. According to the first quarter office market report by JLL, the vacancy rate in the Aventura/North Miami area is just 4.2 percent and the direct asking rent averages $45.14 per square foot – both numbers outperforming the county averages. There was no office construction in the area, JLL found, although several other office buildings have been proposed. Most of them are office condos.

Attorney Melissa Tapanes Llahues, who represents the developers in the application, said the project is in the Ojus urban area of unincorporated Miami-Dade that’s between Aventura and Miami Gardens. It has a different feel than Aventura, but its proximity to Biscayne Boulevard, Miami Gardens Drive and its connection to Interstate 95 and the FEC railroad make it an attractive location, she said.

“They wanted to do something really spectacular,” she said.

Led by Chad Oppenheim, Miami-based Oppenheim Architecture has designed major projects around the world, including Corniche Tower in Dubai; 1 Hotel in Washington, D.C.; 88 Gardens in Xiamen, China; the Enea headquarters in Rapperswill-Jona, Switzerland; the Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas; the Hyatt Regency Chicago; Palace Qatar in Doha; Wharf Road in Australia; and the Wadi Rum Desert Resort in Jordan. In Miami, Oppenheim designed Ten Museum Park and 3 Midtown, among other projects.

Its latest project in Miami could be this office building, which would total 117,053 square feet. It would have 58,747 square feet of office space and 98 parking spaces. The parking would be reduced from the 147 spaces usually required for a building of that size because it’s located within 500 feet of a premium transit bus stop with high frequency service.

While some office brokers insist that tenants want high parking ratios, Tapanes Llahues said that’s increasingly not the case.

“That’s an older way of thinking,” said said of high parking ratios. “Now there is new creative class of folks who are living and working in Miami-Dade County, where premium transit allows for a younger demographic of office workers to come in with ride sharing and bicycles.”

Tapanes Llahues said she didn’t know whether the building would be for lease or for sale as office condos.

Oppenheim’s design includes two amenities on the rooftop: a landscaped terrace and a glass-enclosed lobby. Each floor would also have outdoor space. Tapanes Llahues said that the additional open space is what office users are looking for now.

The 0.5-acre site was acquired for $3 million in October 2015 by 2655 Developers, which is managed by Isaac Aserraf in Hallandale Beach. In addition to Aserraf, the developer’s largest investors include Eduardo Halfen, Boris Fincheltub, Beni Sarshalom, and Moises Mizrahi, according to the application. – Brian Bandell

Published in the South Florida Business Journal April 12, 2016