MIAMI, FL – May 15,  2018 – In downtown Miami’s largest new office lease year to date, Crocker Partners, represented by Tower Commercial Real Estate, secured Duane Morris LLP, an Am Law 100 firm, as the penthouse tenant at Citigroup Center with a 23,128-square-foot lease valued at $16.8 million.  The 34-story, 809,594-square-foot Citigroup Center, which completed a $20 million makeover last year, is Florida’s second largest Class A office building.

Citigroup Center is one of the market’s most highly amenitized buildings, with prime bayfront views and an adjacent Intercontinental Hotel which features fine and casual dining, meeting facilities, fitness center and spa. The building’s recent makeover, designed by world renowned architect Richard Meier, included a new entry, sleek lobby, modernized elevators and glass curtain wall façade. The improvements positioned Citigroup Center to compete with new office buildings coming on line, while taking advantage of its one-of-a-kind Bayfront location.

Jon Blunk, Tower-CRE president, said Duane Morris was able to capitalize on the recently renovated Citigroup Center’s extremely efficient floor plates. “The firm made a smart move, scoring premium space to accommodate its full workforce in efficiently designed space. As a result, the move enabled the firm to reduce its footprint by 7,000 square feet and achieve savings for the long-term,” said Blunk. He noted that technology and more mobile workforces are driving many companies to re-evaluate their space needs.  With more than 800 lawyers in offices across the United States and internationally, working across all major practices and industries, Duane Morris depends on a collaborative technology-enabled culture to respond to client legal and business challenges.

Citigroup Center also is filling a gap in the market place for small and growing companies, Blunk said, offering high-end, immediately available executive suites of 2,000-3,500 sf and a state-of-the-art conference center. The space gives businesses premium office quarters and amenities typically reserved for larger tenants.

The Duane Morris lease was brokered by Blunk, Cristina Glaria and Laurel Oswald of Tower CRE on behalf of Citigroup Center ownership Crocker Partners.  The law firm was represented by Tim Prunka, Savills Studley.