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<\/p>\nAfter two decades in Brickell, law firm Fowler White Burnett has decamped for a more affordable\u00a0office.<\/p>\n
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\n Citigroup Center at 201 S. Biscayne Blvd.\n <\/p>\n
The law firm inked a deal for 20K SF at Citigroup Center<\/a> in Downtown Miami \u2014 a significant downsizing from\u00a0the 35K SF\u00a0it had for 20 years at the Brickell Arch office building, Bisnow has learned.\u00a0<\/p>\n The company made the move to the 20th floor of the skyscraper\u00a0at 201 S. Biscayne Blvd. official last month, switching offices amid soaring rents in Brickell and evolving company needs, Fowler White managing shareholder Richard Wood said in a phone interview Wednesday.<\/p>\n \u201cWe were really looking for more efficient floor plates, and we were looking to consolidate our multiple-floor format into a larger single footprint that would allow us to all be in the same area, on the same floor,\u201d Wood said. \u201cThere’s also, partially, market conditions are changing along Brickell.\u201d<\/p>\n Wood, who specializes in real estate, was in charge of the company\u2019s move when its lease at Brickell Arch \u2014 a 36-story mixed-use building with office, retail, hotel rooms and condos at 1395 Brickell Ave. \u2014 expired in February.<\/p>\n The firm first moved to the building in 2005 and renewed its lease in 2015, but when the option came to renew again,\u00a0Brickell was a completely different office market.<\/p>\n Renewing the firm’s lease would have tripled\u00a0its rent,\u00a0Wood said.<\/p>\n Between 2020 and 2025, Miami\u2019s office rents had surged more than 50%, according to a 2025 first-quarter Savills report. But\u00a0even that increase pales in comparison to the astronomical rise of Brickell office space.<\/p>\n In the middle of 2019, top-tier Brickell office space was asking for $58.72 per SF, according to a Blanca Commercial Real Estate report at the time<\/a>. Many Class-A buildings in the area are now\u00a0asking for more than $100 per SF<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n While Wood declined to comment on the terms of the lease\u00a0at Citigroup Center, he said it was less than the company’s rent in Brickell.<\/p>\n Beyond cheaper rates, Fowler White had begun considering moving out of the space to find a more suitable layout. It surveyed Coral Gables, Blue Lagoon, Aventura, Downtown Miami and other areas in Brickell before settling on Citigroup Center.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a Class-A building that is incredibly well-maintained with significant amenities,\u201d Wood said. \u201cIts location provides public transportation [and] connectivity with the Brightline and Metrorail to our Fort Lauderdale and Palm Beach offices.\u201d<\/p>\n The company moved into a temporary space within Citigroup Center in March\u00a0as\u00a0it waited for\u00a0its permanent space in the 34-story, 832K SF office tower to be built.<\/p>\n Despite downsizing its office, the company plans to expand on its headcount of 34 lawyers in the Miami office this year. Wood said the floor format allows more lawyers to operate within the space than the previous office.<\/p>\n \u201c[We]\u00a0can house more people in a smaller space in this building than we could have done in our other building because of the configuration and the shape of the building itself,\u201d\u00a0he said.<\/p>\n Fowler White will\u00a0join\u00a0tenants like Citibank<\/a> and Regus<\/a>\u00a0at the tower, which is the second-largest Class-A office building in Florida, according to landlord\u00a0CP Group<\/a>.<\/p>\n