Mars Inc. is among the newest group of tenants to sign leases at Brickell City Tower, sources told The Real Deal.
The candy, food and pet food manufacturer signed a new-to-market lease for 7,459 square feet at the Brickell office building, at 80 Southwest Eighth Street. (Mars brands include M&M’s, Skittles, Snickers, Uncle Ben’s Rice and Pedigree pet foods.)
Blanca Commercial Real Estate announced the deal as a “global consumer goods company” but declined to name it.
Danet Linares, vice chair of Blanca, told TRD that the deals show how the building is competing with older buildings directly on Brickell Avenue. She said the leases were signed in the upper $30s per square foot. Class A rents average $50 per square foot, “and that’s seen a nice increase over the past year,” Linares told TRD.
“The center [of Brickell] is shifting over to us because of Brickell City Centre and Mary Brickell Village,” she said.
NextSource Biotechnology, represented by Claudia Splinter of Trajan Investments, also signed a lease for 5,593 square feet. Law firm Beltran Brito is expanding to 3,470 square feet. Salomon, Kanner, Damian & Rodriguez, represented by Darren Campbell of Cushman & Wakefield, renewed its 2,013-square-foot lease and the Rosenfarb Law Firm renewed its 1,265-square-foot deal, according to the announcement. Scott Minchew of Scott Minchew & Company represented Rosenfarb.
The TMF Group, represented by Grant Killingsworth and Shay Pope, also signed a lease for 11,000 square feet, bringing the 288,314-square-foot building to 85.6 percent occupied. TMF is an Amsterdam-based professional services firm.
Linares and Alexander Cahlin of Blanca represented the landlord.
Linares said the commercial brokerage has been handling leasing for Brickell City Tower for about two years. The owners, a joint venture among Banyan Street Capital, Crocker Partners and Independencia Asset Management, closed on a $61 million refinance of the 33-story building in May of last year. The financing was used for renovations to the lobby, elevator and common areas.
Property records show Brickell City Tower was built in 1986 and includes a 411-space parking garage. Other tenants include Uber, Regus and the South Florida Business Journal.