Miami ranked No. 3 on ULI's 2027 market watchlist

Miami’s commercial real estate market is the focus of the latest market signal (The Real Deal). The report records rising rents, falling vacancies and substantial construction lending.

Dallas-Fort Worth ranked first and Nashville second.

Griffin projects anchor Miami’s momentum

Ken Griffin’s planned Citadel headquarters in Brickell spans 1.7 million square feet and carries a $2.5 billion development cost, with vertical construction recently under way. Goldman Properties and Griffin jointly acquired the 545wyn office building in Wynwood from Sterling Bay for $181 million. For a 35-acre Carnegie Mellon University campus, Griffin paid $1.1 billion for Mana Wynwood and adjacent properties.

Tyko Capital, the joint venture involving Adi Chugh and Paul Singer’s Elliott Investment Management, has delivered more than $2 billion in South Florida construction financing over a one-year period. Its newest loan totals $817 million and was made to Edgardo Defortuna’s Fortune International Group and Shahab Karmely’s KAR Properties. The transaction set a state record, exceeding Property Markets Group’s $668 million Waldorf Astoria financing package.

Earlier, a Brickell waterfront assemblage changed hands for a record $520 million under an agreement involving Oak Row Equities and Vlad Doronin’s OKO Group, with Mariposa Real Estate as a partner. Tyko funded the purchase and predevelopment through a $464.5 million senior loan.

Through August, South Florida recorded $6.9 billion in investment sales. That figure was 4.3 percent lower than in the same period of 2025, while the last market peak was $17.3 billion in 2022.

Pied-à-terre tax takes effect in July

The Manhattan tower financing followed an April dispute involving Griffin and New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani. Mamdani had recorded a video in front of Griffin’s penthouse and promoted a pied-à-terre tax, which took effect in July.

Before	After
In April, Mamdani publicly promoted a pied-à-terre tax.	In July, the tax took effect. It is levied on high-value residential properties whose owners do not live in the city full-time.

Readers should check:

Whether the ownership and residence circumstances described in the tax apply to a particular property.
Whether an apartment launch includes payment plans, escrow arrangements or buyer-protection terms, because the cited Miami reports do not provide them.
The dates on the office, multifamily and retail vacancy and rent figures before comparing them with an individual purchase.

Office vacancy falls to 13.7 percent

According to Cushman & Wakefield data cited in the market report, companies occupied 2.8 million square feet of Miami offices, with the average company taking just over 27,000 square feet. At 13.7 percent, third-quarter office vacancy reached its lowest level since late 2020.

Average Miami office rents are approaching $68 per square foot, which is 10 percent below Manhattan’s average. Depending on the submarket, office buildings change hands for roughly $400 to $600 per square foot, while Class A space commands $100 to $120.

At 3480 Main Highway in Coconut Grove, Torose Equities and Sabal Investment Holdings sold a 55,000-square-foot building to Azora Private for more than $1,067 per square foot, establishing a neighborhood record.

Apartments and retail remain tight

Multifamily transaction volume in South Florida has recovered after its 2023 low and is on pace to reach $3.1 billion in 2026. Nationally, apartment demand ranks 12th when measured against existing stock. Multifamily vacancy has fallen to 8.1 percent, while third-quarter rents increased 2.8 percent year over year.

Miami’s retail vacancy is 3.1 percent, making it the second-lowest rate in the country. Retail rents have increased 37 percent since 2019, compared with a 25 percent national increase. Greater Miami recorded 28.3 million visitors last year.

Griffin secures $3.3 billion for Manhattan tower

Griffin is backing a 66-story, 1.9 million-square-foot office tower at 350 Park Avenue in Manhattan. The Commercial Observer reported that a syndicate led by Wells Fargo and J.P. Morgan Chase originated the project’s $3.3 billion construction financing.

According to Fox Business, Griffin will hold 60 percent of the joint venture, Vornado Realty Trust will hold 36 percent and Rudin will hold 4 percent. Seven institutions are providing the loan: Wells Fargo, JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, BMO Bank, ING Capital, PNC Bank and Standard Chartered Bank.

Citadel has leased 1.05 million square feet, while approximately 850,000 square feet on the upper floors will be marketed to other tenants. The tower is slated for completion in 2032, and Vornado said construction was already underway. Griffin had described Mamdani’s personal attack as creepy and weird, while Mamdani later softened his rhetoric and thanked Griffin for his contributions to New York.