It’s Happening: Citadel Files Foundation Permits for new $2.5B Miami Headquarters, Groundbreaking Nears

Citadel filed a full foundation permit application last week for its planned headquarters at 1201 Brickell Bay Drive, advancing a retooled office tower now expected to include roughly 1.7 million square feet of usable office space.

The filing marks one of the last major preconstruction steps and suggests a formal groundbreaking could be approaching, although Citadel has not announced any official start date. Crews are currently on site performing deep soil mixing, a geotechnical preparatory step that is not typically considered formal groundbreaking.

Public filings list the foundation permit’s declared construction value at $25,000,000, a figure consistent with a full foundation permit application that would cover construction work such as piling, shoring, mat slabs and major work below grade.

The long awaited project has recently drawn significant public attention for a number of reasons.

First, once completed, the tower, totaling roughly 1.7 million square feet, would likely rank among the largest single office projects in Miami’s history. With an estimated $2.5 billion development cost, it would also be among the most expensive private developments ever undertaken in the city.

It also marks the culmination of a wave of residential and business migration to Miami after the pandemic. Citadel moved its headquarters from Chicago in 2022 and currently occupies space at the recently completed 830 Brickell tower while awaiting completion of 1201 Brickell Bay Drive.

Second, the Miami expansion has also taken on political significance following a high profile dispute between Griffin and New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani. The dispute recently made headlines after Mamdani posted a video outside Griffin’s Manhattan penthouse while promoting a proposed pied-à-terre tax on ultra-luxury second homes in New York.

Griffin objected strongly, saying the video put him “in harm’s way” and turned him into a political target. The controversy has since become part of a broader debate over whether New York’s tax and political climate is pushing high earners, companies, and investment toward lower tax, more business friendly states like Texas and Florida.

Citadel is also expanding in New York City, with plans to anchor a tower at 350 Park Avenue that some estimates have valued at more than $6 billion. The project is being developed in partnership with Rudin and Vornado Realty Trust. However, recent reports have suggested that Citadel may be reconsidering the nature of those plans in light of the Mamdani dispute, including a memo sent to Citadel employees by COO Gerald Beeson.

Griffin also recently announced that Citadel was removing the hotel component from its new Miami tower and increasing the planned office space by 400,000 square feet, directly linking the expansion to the recent dispute in New York.

He recently gave an interview with CNBC's Sara Eisen at the Milken Institute Global Conference on May 5, where he discussed the Mamdani feud, Citadel's new Miami tower, as well as 350 Park.

EISEN: Are you going to go through with that building? [referring to 350 Park]

GRIFFIN: We probably will go through with the building when it’s all said and done, but I got to tell you, it’s a real topic of debate. The only decision that we have made with no regrets in the last few days is to expand the size of our office footprint in our new Miami headquarters.

EISEN: Just in the last few days, you made that?

GRIFFIN: Yes. We actually—

EISEN: In reaction to New York?

GRIFFIN: In reaction to New York. We filed the permit with the city of Miami. We have added several hundred thousand square feet of new space in our new building. We will add far more jobs in Miami over the next decade as an immediate and direct consequence of the mayor’s poor decision here with respect to his posting of that video.

In the same interview, Griffin added, “What do we do at 350 is still a point of discussion internally. But Miami, by contrast, is not up for debate.”

In broader market context, Citadel’s Brickell move arrives alongside other large office projects in the neighborhood, including Banco Santander’s new tower as well as a recent FAA approval for 848 Brickell, an SOM designed office tower at 823 ft.

These projects, combined with Citadel, would push Brickell’s near term office pipeline well past 3 million square feet. At an industry standard of roughly 200 sq ft per employee, that could accommodate on the order of 15,000 workers, a scale that would materially reshape daytime population and leasing dynamics in Brickell.