FEMA just inked a large, short-term lease in Doral.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency is leasing a nearly 94,000-square-foot building at 2001 Northwest 107th Avenue for three months, One Commercial agent Ani Sierra said. After Hurricane Irma, the General Services Administration, an independent agency of the U.S. government, needed a large space in south Miami-Dade with more than 300 parking spaces and proximity to major highways and expressways.
Sierra brokered the deal. FEMA will have the option to stay up to 11 months, but Sierra said it’s unlikely the agency will be there that long. FEMA is using the office building to service the Florida Keys post-Irma.
The hurricane made landfall Sunday, Sept. 10 on Cudjoe Key as a Category 4 storm, leaving broken power lines and thousands of damaged and destroyed homes in its wake. FEMA estimated that Irma destroyed a quarter of the homes in Monroe County.
Teresa J. Holmes, a GSA lease contracting officer who worked with Sierra, could not immediately be reached for comment.
Records show Megapolis Corp. owns the three-story building, which is near the Florida Turnpike, 836 Expressway and Miami International Airport. The lease deal is not yet available in public records.
Sierra said she reached out to a number of landlords that checked off FEMA’s boxes, but most weren’t willing to provide sufficient parking or part with a space that large for the three-month period. FEMA was looking for a contiguous space ranging from about 75,000 square feet to 150,000 square feet. “They couldn’t see past three months,” Sierra said, adding that some offered “ridiculous and overpriced terms.”
The agency toured the space on Thursday, Sept. 21 and signed a lease the following the day. FEMA moved in the following week.