Swire Sells Prime Brickell Site to Melo Group for $211.5M After Scrapping Supertall Plans

Swire Properties has sold the site of its once-ambitious One Brickell City Centre project to the Melo Group in an all-cash deal totaling $211.5 million. The 2.8-acre property, located at 700–799 Brickell Avenue in Miami, was offloaded just months after Swire canceled plans for a 1,000-foot-tall office skyscraper.

The sale marks a significant pivot for the Hong Kong-based developer, which had initially envisioned a landmark supertall tower with expansive office floor plates as part of its Brickell City Centre expansion. Citing a “challenging” office market, Swire officially shelved the project earlier this year and hired CBRE to market the site. CBRE’s Robert Given and Troy Ballard represented Swire in the sale.

“For a project of this scale and complexity, the buyers moved remarkably fast,” Given said.

The buyer, Miami-based Melo Group, has developed over 8,000 residential units across Greater Downtown Miami. While the Melos has yet to disclose specific plans for the Brickell site, Martin Melo said the company is eager to “unlock [the site’s] full potential in the heart of Brickell.”

The parcel sits adjacent to Swire’s existing Brickell City Centre—a significant mixed-use development featuring luxury condos, office space, a hotel, and an outdoor shopping center.

Swire originally purchased the property in 2013 for $64.1 million from the Brickell family, making the recent sale a substantial return on investment. Proceeds from the deal will help fund Swire’s upcoming Mandarin Oriental-branded condo and hotel development on nearby Brickell Key, which already boasts more than $1 billion in presales. The current Mandarin Oriental hotel is scheduled to close this month, ahead of its demolition.

The decision to exit the office tower plan reflects broader market trends. South Florida’s office sector, which experienced a surge during the pandemic era between 2020 and 2022, has since cooled. High interest rates, slower preleasing, and economic uncertainty have led several developers to delay or cancel projects.

Initially announced in 2022, One Brickell City Centre was to be developed in partnership with Related Companies, then led by billionaire Stephen Ross. The proposed tower would have featured some of Miami’s largest office floor plates, up to 60,000 square feet on its lower levels.

While Swire exits the Brickell chapter, Related Companies remains active in the neighborhood. The New York-based developer is now collaborating with billionaire hedge fund manager Ken Griffin on a new Brickell tower, which is slated to house the headquarters of Citadel and Citadel Securities.