DEVELOPMENT
CityPlace Tower
525 Okeechobee Blvd., West Palm Beach
Property Size: 300,000 square feet, 18-story office building
Project Cost: $110 million
Developers: Related Cos. LP, Crocker Partners LLC
Before the first tenants had moved into CityPlace Tower last
spring, the class A office building had already become one of Florida’s best, creating a dramatic architectural element to Downtown
West Palm Beach as its first new structure since 1989. Located near
Interstate 95 and Palm Beach International Airport, and offering
expansive views of the Intracoastal
Waterway and Atlantic Ocean, the
building also features valet and
security services, four floors of
parking and $4 million worth of
backup power generators in case
of a major storm. CityPlace Tower
is 80% leased and has attracted
CityPlace Tower
several marquee tenants such as
Intech, Cleveland Clinic and Carlton Fields PA. “It’s proof that
even in a distressed environment, good product sells well,” says Thomas J. Crocker, founder
and CEO of Crocker Partners. Elkus/Man-fredi Architects of Boston collaborated with
West Palm Beach-based STH Architects on
the tower’s iconic design. The building is part
of CityPlace, a 72-acre, $600-million mixed-use
development.
FINANCE
Met 2
333 Avenue of the Americas, Miami
Loan Amount: $250 million
Project: 750,000 square feet office,
358 hotel rooms
Lenders: Bank of America, Wachovia Bank
Borrowers: MDM Development Group,
MetLife
“To have secured a $250-million construction loan in this economic climate is nothing
short of unprecedented,” says Tim Weller,
MDM vice president. In addition to Bank of
America and Wachovia (now Wells Fargo),
other participants in the loan include HSBC
Bank USA, RBC Bank and Bank of Scotland.
Weller notes that the construction financing
is a testament to the lenders’ confidence in
the new project, which is already 40% leased
to major tenants including Greenberg Traurig
and Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu on the office
side. The 156,626-square-foot Greenberg Traurig lease, which will include prime monument
signage at the base of the building, is another
of the year’s biggest with a total aggregate
value of $67.3 million. The 47-story, class A office building will be joined by a 42-story hotel
carrying the JW Marriott and Hotel Beaux
Arts flags. Met 2 is part of the Metropolitan
Miami mixed-use project that will also include
a 120,000-square-foot entertainment and life-style complex, as well as upscale residential
condominiums. —REFLA
