OREANDA-NEWS. Prudential Real Estate Investors has acquired Sabadell Financial Center, a 30-story, Class-A office tower in Miami’s Brickell Financial District. PREI®, acting on behalf of institutional investors in its flagship core open-end commingled fund, is the real estate investment management and advisory business of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE: PRU).

Known as “the Manhattan of the South,” Brickell has the largest concentration of international banks in the U.S. and is one of the fastest growing residential neighborhoods in Miami. The property, between Brickell Avenue and Brickell Bay Drive, offers tenants and visitors access to numerous public transportation links and a host of retail shops and restaurants. PREI’s acquisition reflects its strategy to capture opportunities for investors created by the neighborhood’s attributes.

PREI purchased the building, also known as 1111 Brickell, for USD 185 million from an affiliate of Spanish real estate firm Testa Inmuebles en Renta, S.A. The transaction closed on April 12. Sabadell Financial Center enjoys a reputation of being among Miami’s most desirable and best located office buildings. PREI plans to enhance that standing through additional capital investments designed to attract new multinational and regional tenants while retaining existing occupants.

“With Miami growing in stature among the top business and financial hubs in the Americas, the timing was ripe for PREI’s entrance into the Brickell market,” said Cathy Marcus, managing director at Prudential Real Estate Investors and senior portfolio manager for the firm’s core open-ended equity commingled real estate strategy. “With a location in the sought-after Brickell district and an enviable tenant base, Sabadell Financial Center is a perfect fit with our investment strategy.”

Originally built in 2000, the 523,000 square-foot building is 85 percent leased to a mix of prominent financial services companies and major law firms. The building is connected to a 22-story JW Marriott Hotel, which is not part of the acquisition, but serves as a convenient amenity for the office tower.

Spearheading the leasing and marketing for Sabadell Financial Center is Blanca Commercial Real Estate, a Miami-based commercial real estate brokerage and advisory firm.