Paul Singer’s Elliott Investment Management completed its purchase of a Brickell office tower for $443 million.
The deal, billed as the second largest office deal in state history by the brokers involved, makes Singer’s hedge fund a major player in one of South Florida’s most active office submarkets.
Elliott, which is now based in downtown West Palm Beach after moving from New York, and Boca Raton-based Morning Calm Management bought the 33-story high-rise at 701 Brickell Avenue from New York-based Nuveen Real Estate, a press release states.
The joint venture paid $644 per square foot for 701 Brickell.
A JLL team led by Manny de Zarraga and Matt McCormack represented Nuveen and procured the buyers, the release states. Charles Russo with East Region Workplace also represented Nuveen.
Nuveen, a subsidiary of Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America, paid $172 million for 701 Brickell in 2002, records show. Completed in 1985, the 687,000-square-foot building is 90 percent occupied. Tenants include Bank of America, law firm Holland & Knight and Kaseya, an information technology and security management software company.
In 2021, Nuveen completed a $50 million rehab of 701 Brickell, the release states. The firm put the building on the market for more than $500 million in April. In a statement, a JLL spokesperson said Ellliott’s purchase of 701 Brickell ranks behind the $540 million sale of Southeast Financial Center in downtown Miami in 2016.
Founded in 1977, Elliott managed roughly $69.7 billion in assets as of June 30, the hedge fund’s website states. Elliott is also backing Tyko Capital, a private equity and credit investment management firm that provided financing for a planned office skyscraper in Brickell.
In July, OKO Group and Cain International obtained a $565 million loan secured by 830 Brickell, a 55-story building the joint venture is expected to complete by the end of the year. The mortgage paid off a $300 million construction loan.
