Simon Property Buys Brickell City Centre Mall For $512M
Hong Kong-based Swire Properties has sold off another high-profile piece of its Miami portfolio.
Swire sold its majority stake in the Brickell City Centre mall to Simon Property Group, the largest owner of U.S. malls, for $512M. It is the second nine-figure sale Swire has executed at the Brickell property in less than a month.
Simon, which has owned 25% of the property since 2016, acquired Swire's ownership in the retail and parking and is now the sole owner of the asset and land. The sale marks the completion of Swire's goal to recycle its capital in Brickell City Centre toward other uses, according to a source familiar with the deal.
“We have been a 25% owner in BCC with Swire since 2016 and are confident that BCC is a great addition to Simon and perfectly fits into our Live. Work. Play. Stay. Shop. strategy,” Executive Vice President and Chief Investment Officer Eli Simon said in a statement.
The 500K SF shopping mall at 701 S. Miami Ave. was the mixed-use Brickell City Centre project's first phase and opened in 2016. It rises four floors and has more than 90 stores, with tenants like Apple, Coach and Lululemon. It is anchored by Saks Fifth Avenue.
Swire built two office buildings, Two Brickell City Centre and Three Brickell City Centre, and sold them in 2020 to affiliates of Northwood Investors for $163M. The hotel component, East Miami, was sold to a joint venture of Trinity Fund Advisors and Certares Real Estate Management for $174M in 2021.
Swire also developed the two 43-story, 390-unit condo towers Reach and Rise as part of the Brickell City Centre development.
The project had one undeveloped site left: what was planned to be a 1,000-foot office tower, the tallest in Florida, developed in partnership with Related Cos. The developers abandoned those plans this year and sold the site last month to The Melo Group for $211.5M.
Simon owns more than 170M SF of commercial space in the U.S. across its malls, outlet centers and mixed-use properties. Its South Florida assets include Dadeland Mall, Sawgrass Mills and Miami International Mall.
While the REIT's performance has recovered from the pandemic's impact on shopping, not all of its properties have come back strongly.
Miami International Mall in Doral saw its appraised value slashed by 59% when the $160M loan tied to the property was moved into special servicing last year after Simon failed to pay it off.
But it has been active in growing its local holdings — it purchased the vacant 180K SF Sears site at the Town Center at Boca Raton this month from Seritage Growth Properties for $23M.
