OKO Joins Oak Row Equities To Close Record $520M Brickell Land Deal
After a year under contract for the largest land deal in South Florida history, Oak Row Equities found a partner and a lender to close on a Brickell waterfront assemblage for a record $520M.
The firm, led by Erik Rutter and David Weitz, brought in OKO Group as a partner and landed a $464.5M acquisition and predevelopment loan from hedge fund-backed lender Tyko Capital to seal the deal just in time for the holidays, according to a release.
The New York- and Miami-based Oak Row went under contract on Dec. 30, 2024, to buy the 4.25-acre site at 1001 and 1111 Brickell Bay Drive from Aimco. The Denver-based REIT has since embarked on a full liquidation.
“Closing on Brickell Bay Drive is a historic moment for our growing firm — a milestone that speaks to the caliber of our team — and for the future of Miami,” Rutter and Weitz said in a joint statement. “We are honored to partner with OKO Group to create a globally-coveted experience and new way of living that is singular to this once-in-a-lifetime waterfront site.”
The deal was originally scheduled to close in March following the payment of a $38M nonrefundable deposit, according to Aimco filings. But as Oak Row worked to secure financing, it continued to push back the closing date — a July extension, with a $7M nonrefundable deposit, pushed the closing date to the fourth quarter.
Oak Row spent a total of $50M to push the deal back to the last quarter of 2025, Aimco previously said. It is now officially the priciest land deal in Miami history, surpassing the $365M billionaire Ken Griffin paid in 2022 for the site of Citadel’s future headquarters. That deal is still pricier on a per-acre basis.
“We were able to secure the deal based on an attractive structure that simultaneously met Aimco’s needs, as well as Oak Row’s, giving us time to design a best-in-class project prior to putting in significant capital,” Oak Row Chief Operating Officer Adam Metzger told Bisnow in February.
The sites are home to a 32-story office tower and a 31-story apartment building, which Aimco listed for $650M in March 2024, The Real Deal reported.
Oak Row plans to knock those down and build an “ultra luxury destination that redefines the future of holistic living and leisure” with branded luxury condos and a hotel on the site, according to a release. The site is zoned for more than 3M SF of development and a maximum tower height of 1,049 feet, with 485 feet of Biscayne Bay frontage.
It deepened its ties with OKO Group after the developer, led by Russian-born billionaire Vlad Doronin, moved to a 25K SF office at Wynwood Plaza, a mixed-use development with a 12-story office tower, 509 apartments and retail space that Oak Row and L&L Holding Co. delivered in October.
“Brickell’s final remaining waterfront site of this scale provides a rare opportunity to create an iconic mixed-use development that will set a new benchmark for design, wellness, and luxury hospitality in the United States,” Doronin said in a statement.
OKO Group and Cain International developed the 830 Brickell trophy office tower, which they refinanced for $600M in 2025.
Denver-based Aimco announced in November it plans to sell off all of its multifamily assets and close up shop. Last week, it entered into a contract with LaTerra Capital Management and Respark Residential to sell a seven-property Chicago multifamily portfolio for $455M.
This is the biggest South Florida splash yet for Oak Row, which inked a 76K SF lease with Amazon at Wynwood Plaza and broke ground on the 38-story 2900 Terrace apartment building this year.
