Ken Griffin’s Citadel Grabs Two More Floors in Posh Miami Tower

(Bloomberg) -- Citadel is grabbing more office space in Miami, as Ken Griffin’s financial empire expands south.

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Citadel and Citadel Securities have leased another two floors at a new 55-story tower in Brickell, Miami’s financial district. The firms will now occupy eight floors of the building, or around 130,000 square feet (12,077 square meters), said Brian Gale, vice chairman of Cushman & Wakefield in Florida.

A spokesperson for Citadel confirmed the expansion.

Developed by OKO Group and Cain International, the skyscraper at 830 Brickell has lured tenants like Citadel, Microsoft Corp. and private equity firm Thoma Bravo as they move key operations to South Florida. But the building is nearly two years behind schedule, with companies now expected to start moving late this summer, said Justin Oates, a senior vice president at Cain.

Citadel managed to grab the extra space thanks to Chicago-based law firm Kirkland & Ellis, which vacated two lower floors in exchange for more room higher up, Gale said. Another Chicago law firm, Winston & Strawn, gave up offices at 830 Brickell, leading to the reshuffle.

Cushman & Wakefield represented the developers on leasing. Kirkland & Ellis and Winston & Strawn declined to comment.

Citadel expects to have roughly 450 employees by the end of the summer in Miami, driven by another wave of relocations taking place ahead of the school year and more hiring. Griffin announced in June 2022 he was moving Citadel and Citadel Securities from Chicago to Miami, citing out-of-control violent crime among other reasons.

The Citadel founder worth $42 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, is still planning to build his own office building in Miami. The tower is set to cost at least $1 billion and will serve as Citadel headquarters, but the project is still years away from completion.

In April, Griffin and developers Vornado Realty Trust and Rudin filed plans with New York City for a tower at 350 Park Ave., where Citadel and Citadel Securities will be the anchor tenants with at least 850,000 square feet of space.

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