Citadel CEO Ken Griffin splits with Sterling Bay on Miami office tower

It’s unclear what led to the breakup, but the separation removes another Citadel-Chicago tie as Griffin has sought to distance himself from the city following criticisms of Chicago’s problems controlling violent crime. Citadel still has a large Chicago office in its namesake tower at 131 S. Dearborn St. in the Loop and expects to keep many employees in Chicago, though the company has not said how many.

Sterling Bay, well-known in Chicago for its office development projects in the Fulton Market District and its planned Lincoln Yards development on the city’s North Side, has overseen substantial pre-development work on Citadel’s Miami project since announcing its involvement last summer. The developer helped the company identify and purchase a vacant property in Brickell for the project and worked on permitting and soil-testing aspects of the project, which is not yet under construction. Griffin told Bloomberg last year that the tower could exceed 1,000 feet and take five or six years to complete.

“Sterling Bay has been instrumental in selecting and procuring critical real estate investments that have expanded Citadel’s Miami presence in Brickell and in Palm Beach,” Citadel spokesman Zia Ahmed said in a statement. “As Citadel’s internal workplace team has grown, so have the firm’s capabilities to directly support the growth and development of its real estate portfolio. We are grateful to Sterling Bay for the critical role it has played in our early progress to date at 1201 Brickell Bay Drive, and we look forward to maintaining a strong working relationship with their team moving forward.”

Citadel last year signed a lease at a new office tower under construction in Brickell that’s expected to house its Miami headquarters while its own new tower is in the works. Citadel also inked a deal late last year to anchor a new $1.2 billion office tower on Park Avenue in New York City, which is slated to be developed by a venture that includes Merchandise Mart owner Vornado Realty Trust.

Sterling Bay spokeswoman Julie Goudie said in a statement that as Citadel’s real estate capabilities grow, “it makes sense for their firm to bring more of its development process in-house. Moving forward, Sterling Bay will turn its full-time attention, resources, and personnel to its growing pipeline of national projects, delivering exceptional returns for its investors. We look forward to the opportunity to work with Citadel in the future.”

Sterling Bay previously developed an office building in Miami’s Wynwood neighborhood that opened in 2020, part of an effort in recent years to expand the company’s portfolio nationwide. Sterling Bay said last year that it has a presence in 15 U.S. markets.