Billionaire Ken Griffin Acquires Palm Beach’s Worth Avenue Office Building for $83M

Renowned hedge funder and billionaire Ken Griffin continues to set his sights on Palm Beach, adding to his impressive real estate portfolio. Griffin’s Citadel acquired the approximately 50,000-square-foot office building at 125 Worth Avenue from a Frisbie Group and Dreyfuss Management affiliate for a substantial $83 million, as confirmed by records and real estate database Vizzda.

Initially completed in 1974, the three-story building occupies 0.8 acres of prime Palm Beach real estate. Based in Palm Beach, Frisbie Group had purchased the property for $30.7 million in 2017, with Dreyfuss, headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, holding a stake in the building according to state corporate records.

Griffin, who recently shifted Citadel and Citadel Securities’ headquarters to Brickell, Miami, has been keenly interested in expanding his presence in Palm Beach. In addition to the newly acquired office building at 125 Worth Avenue, an entity linked to Citadel also owns the adjacent three-story commercial building at 151 Worth Avenue, as noted in state corporate records.

While the spokesperson for Griffin, Zia Ahmed, initially declined to comment on the matter, he later confirmed that Griffin, and not Citadel, is the buyer for both 125 and 151 Worth Avenue properties.

The 125 Worth entity is associated with Gerald A. Beeson, identified as Citadel’s COO on the firm’s website. It lists Citadel’s downtown Miami office address in state corporate filings at the Southeast Financial Center. Similar details are also provided in state records for the entity that owns the 151 Worth Avenue building, which was previously the location of the Neiman Marcus department store.

With the acquisition of 125 and 151 Worth Avenue buildings, Citadel now commands nearly 98,000 square feet of space across 1.8 acres in Palm Beach. Griffin’s ambitious real estate ventures extend beyond Palm Beach as well. In Brickell, Miami, his notable $363 million purchase of land at 1201 Brickell Bay Drive is expected to serve as Citadel’s future headquarters. Meanwhile, the firm has secured roughly 95,000 square feet at the 830 Brickell office tower, scheduled for completion later this year.

Griffin’s latest move with the Worth Avenue acquisition solidifies his prominent position in the Palm Beach real estate market while keeping a firm eye on further expansion opportunities in the future.