Brickell World Plaza

The 40-story building topped out in early 2009, but construction was then suspended, or greatly slowed, as the building was still not completed over two years later as of March 2011. The building lost an anchor tenant, a law firm with a $58 million, 10.5-year lease for 15 percent of the building (115,000 sq ft), in early 2009.[5] With the new name of Brickell World Plaza, the building had a scheduled opening date of August 2011. The Foram Group, building developers of Brickell World Plaza, have claimed that this slowed construction was strategic for the purpose of detail, and that after completion they would move their corporate offices into the building. However, the near halt in construction and the loss of a major tenant suggests that the delay was not strategic but due to the 2008 economic crisis and the falling demand for office space due to the excessive construction in Miami at the time.

Early in 2011, 600 Brickell got a $130 million construction mortgage loan from Los Angeles-based Canyon Capital Reality Advisors that would fund the rest of the construction. This was one of the largest loans issued in the city of Miami since the real estate crisis.[6]

When 600 Brickell came online in August–September 2011, it increased Miami's downtown office vacancy to nearly 25%,[7] and Class A Brickell vacancy to over 30%.[8]

The Foram Group hired Jones Lang LaSalle, led by veteran brokers Glenn Gregory and Noël Steinfeld, to handle leasing for the nearly 615,000-square-foot (57,100 m²) building. In 2012, Gregory and Steinfeld said a full-court press to land tenants was finally underway. Shortly before Foram hired Jones Lang, the developer signed a pair of new-to-market tenants — New York-based lender Doral Money and Irvine, California-based mediation and arbitration services firm JAMS — to occupy a combined 30,090 square feet (2,795 m²) at the building. Gregory and Steinfeld have said that they were discussing with prospective tenants for about 300,000 square feet (28,000 m²), although that includes some space being marketed to multiple companies.[9]

The building lights up at night in a variety of colors.

The building, at the time of completion, was South Florida's first Cisco Connected Commercial Office Building in partnership with Cisco Systems Inc.[10] It was planned to have its own dedicated hub connecting it to the Internet with a fast and secure connection. The project was designed by the global architecture firm RTKL and its developer was the Foram Group. The Foram Group's intended goal was to set a new gold-standard for technology and sustainability in international commercial property development by creating the most innovative and forward-thinking office building in Miami.

The Brickell World Plaza was the state of Florida's first building to be pre-certified under the U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program.[11] In 2012, it did in fact receive LEED Platinum certification, becoming at the time one of very few buildings in the world of its size to receive this rating, the highest available from the US Green Building Council. The building incorporated pioneering work in efficiencies in energy, lighting, water, and material use, and incorporated a variety of other sustainable strategies to reduce its carbon footprint.[12] The building collects all rainfall and condensed water from the cooling towers in a 10,000 US gallons (38,000 L) tank to be reused for irrigation and makeup water for the fountains at Brickell World Plaza.[13]

It is also the first building in South Florida to be a part of Cisco Systems "Cisco Connected Commercial Office Building",[14] which means that it has a fast and secure, dedicated internet connection. The originally planned Brickell Financial Centre (two buildings) was to include office space, a hotel, luxury condominiums, and a public plaza. The actual Brickell World Center does not feature the hotel or condominiums, but the ground level plaza is planned to be a 30,000-square-foot (2,800 m²) public space as well as 18,000 square feet (1,700 m²) of ground level restaurants and cafes, and an outdoor stage where events may be held, occupying the space originally dedicated to the Brickell Financial Centre II. The first eleven floors of the building above the plaza are a parking garage, while the remaining 28 floors are office space.[15] The outside of Brickell World Plaza is lit up at night similar to the Miami Tower. This began before Christmas in December 2011 with a ceremony with governor Rick Scott where a 40-foot wreath was hung on the building.[16]

Brickell Financial Centre Phase II, which had been scheduled for completion in 2011, would have been the tallest building in Miami and Florida upon completion, at 903 feet (275 m). It would have contained 68 floors.[17] The Brickell Financial Centre complex was always planned to be done in two phases, with the second building being constructed after the first, so the second building may still be built, presumably under a different, new name. The second phase was planned to be a mixed-use building, containing several hundred thousand feet of office space, as well as several hundred thousand feet of condominium and hotel space,[18] and would be a substantially larger building than the Brickell World Plaza.[15] The area where BFC II would stand was turned into a parking lot in late 2011 with the completion of Brickell World Plaza and included a small valet structure.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Brickell World Plaza.

• List of tallest buildings in Miami
• Downtown Miami

• Brickell Financial Centre from Emporis
• 600 Brickell Official site
• Brickell World Plaza Official site

25°46′3.43″N 80°11′26.1″W