Santander broke ground in April 2026 on a 50-story office tower at 1401 Brickell Ave., while Citadel is preparing to launch vertical construction on its waterfront headquarters as soon as the fourth quarter of 2026, as both projects target a widening gap in Miami's premier office market.

Why are major companies struggling to find large office space in Brickell?

Brokers say tenants seeking contiguous blocks of 200,000 to 500,000 square feet in Brickell have repeatedly come up empty, exposing a structural shortage of large-format Class A — meaning top-tier, modern — space in the neighborhood. Despite a Class A direct vacancy rate of 11.8% recorded in Colliers' second-quarter 2026 report, that available space is scattered across multiple buildings in smaller increments that cannot accommodate companies requiring a single, unified floor plate at scale.

  • Average asking rents in Brickell reached $93.03 per square foot as of Colliers' Q2 2026 report.
  • Vacancy figures reflect space that exists on paper but not in the contiguous configurations major tenants require.
  • Demand is being driven by firms seeking 200,000-to-500,000-square-foot blocks under one roof.

What exactly is Santander building at 1401 Brickell Ave.?

Santander broke ground in April 2026 on a 50-story, one-million-square-foot tower at 1401 Brickell Ave., with a targeted completion date of summer 2029. The project will be among the largest new office developments underway in South Florida and is designed to capture tenants that the existing Brickell market cannot currently accommodate.

When will Citadel's Brickell Bay Drive headquarters begin rising?

Citadel's planned 1.7-million-square-foot waterfront headquarters along Brickell Bay Drive could begin vertical construction as soon as the fourth quarter of 2026, making it the larger of the two projects by a significant margin. If Citadel's tower proceeds on that timeline, Brickell would see two major towers simultaneously climbing skyward before the decade ends.

  • Citadel's tower would add 1.7 million square feet of new Class A supply to the Brickell waterfront.
  • Combined, the two projects represent approximately 2.7 million square feet of new office inventory.
  • Both towers are targeting the same cohort of large-block tenants currently underserved by existing inventory.

What does this construction wave mean for Brickell's office market and neighborhood?

The two towers together would dramatically reshape the supply side of Brickell's office market, potentially absorbing pent-up demand from financial, legal, and technology firms that have eyed Miami but could not commit without adequate space. Whether asking rents near $93.03 per square foot hold, rise further, or soften once new supply arrives will be a closely watched indicator for South Florida commercial real estate through the late 2020s.

Original reporting by Yahoo Finance / Bisnow.