Assurant Puts 79-Acre Miami Campus Up For Sale As Vacant Redevelopment Play

Insurance giant Assurant is looking to sell off its sprawling corporate campus south of Miami, which it plans to vacate as it embraces a hybrid work model.

Courtesy of CBRE

Assurant is listing its 79-acre campus in Miami-Dade County as a vacant redevelopment opportunity.

The 79-acre property at 11222 Quail Roost Drive, west of Cutler Bay, has three office buildings, a warehouse and three school buildings totaling 515K SF, as well as 25 acres of undeveloped land.

It is owned by American Bankers Insurance Co. of Florida, which underwrites Assurant. The listing, which is being handled by CBRE Senior Vice President David Wigoda, says the property offers a turnkey solution for a corporate buyer or it could be redeveloped for office, industrial, retail, hotel or multifamily uses. 

“Like many global companies, Assurant has embraced more of a hybrid workstyle and as such, we have embarked on a process to consolidate parts of our global real estate portfolio, including our Miami property,” an Assurant spokesman told Bisnow in a statement. “Assurant has a long and rich history as an employer in the Greater Miami business community and is committed to maintaining a physical presence in the Miami Dade County area that better represents our space needs.”   

Assurant has over 13,000 employees worldwide and a spokesperson for Assurant told Bisnow that the company relocated its headquarters from New York to Atlanta earlier this year. The Fortune 500 company provides insurance for a wide variety of products from cellphones to multifamily housing and is traded on the New York Stock Exchange. It announced in December that it was engaging in cost-cutting to ensure greater operational efficiency and would pare back its real estate and support work-from-home arrangements.

The company beat its own forecast and analyst consensus, it reported during its first-quarter earnings call on May 3, despite announcing its adjusted earnings per share were down 12% year-over-year.

Assurant’s property in South Florida was approved as a development of regional impact, according to the listing, which allows for significant development across the 79-acre campus. The southern portion of the property is part of a SMART Corridor Buffer Area, which the listing says allows for greater densities than those permitted under the underlying land use designation. 

“Ideally the property is suited for multiple commercial uses, depending on the buyer’s preference, given its size and location,” Assurant’s spokesperson said.

The listing also says the recently passed Live Local Act could allow for multifamily development on the site. The bill, which goes into effect on July 1, widely expands the types of zoning that permit multifamily development across the state, as long as developers reserve a certain number of units for workforce housing.

Assurant has invested millions into upgrades at the property, according to the listing, which says the campus “is an ideal candidate for another corporate user.” The buildings can be delivered vacant or partially leased on a short-term basis.

The property is directly adjacent to the Florida Turnpike, less than a mile from U.S. 1 and around 18 miles from Miami International Airport. It spans three parcels that were assessed at a combined value of $51.9M by Miami-Dade County in 2022.

The move by Assurant to sell its Florida campus comes as other large employers shed space in Florida and across the country.

In April, Office Depot sold its 615K SF headquarters on 29 acres in Boca Raton for $104M, with plans to lease back around 300K SF. PGA of America announced the sale of its longtime Palm Beach Gardens headquarters for $12M to Boca Raton-based Blue Water Advisors after relocating its operations to Frisco, Texas.

Omnicom Group, a global holding company that owns dozens of marketing and advertising firms, announced last month that it had begun a “massive” consolidation of its office space in the United States. It has an office in West Palm Beach, although it is unclear how that is being affected.

Alphabet, the parent company of Google, said it expected to incur about $500M in expenses in the first quarter this year associated with vacating office space as it sought to optimize its global footprint.

CORRECTION, MAY 15, 12:45 P.M. ET: Assurant moved its headquarters to Atlanta from New York earlier this year, a spokesperson told Bisnow after this article’s publication. This story has been updated.