If FTX didn’t collapse, a handful of the crypto exchange’s executives would be working out of a posh office building in the heart of Miami’s financial district.
(Bloomberg) — If FTX didn’t collapse, a handful of the crypto exchange’s executives would be working out of a posh office building in the heart of Miami’s financial district.
The now-bankrupt FTX was set to move into a 35-story, high-end tower at 1450 Brickell Ave. in Miami’s financial district, according to people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be named. The new office space would have housed most of FTX US, one of the few businesses of Sam Bankman-Fried’s crypto empire that he recently said remains solvent, at least to his knowledge. The move was part of FTX’s larger plan to relocate its US headquarters to Miami from Chicago.
Representatives from FTX in Miami did not respond to requests for comment.
According to an online listing for available space at 1450 Brickell, annual rent at the “state-of-the-art trophy tower” is roughly $90.00 per square foot. Blanca Commercial Real Estate, the broker responsible for leasing space at the property, declined to comment.
A month before FTX’s unraveling, the company encouraged its staff to move to Miami by mid-November, according to crypto publication The Block. One FTX executive, Ramnik Arora, head of product at FTX, had planned a trip to Miami around that time, according to an October email seen by Bloomberg.
Before the company announced in September plans to relocate to Miami, FTX already had an outsized presence in the city. Last year, the company set up in smaller offices for just under 20 employees in the financial district.
In 2021, the company signed a 19-year, $135 million sponsorship agreement with Miami-Dade County, giving Bankman-Fried the right to scrawl the company moniker atop the Miami Heat NBA team’s arena.
Last year, the company held parties at the Art Basel Miami extravaganza and earlier this year it hosted a festival in South Beach for Formula 1’s Grand Prix and a community-oriented FTX Charity Hackathon.
Read more: Bankman-Fried’s FTX Trashed in Miami as Crypto Diehards Party On
When Bankman-Fried filed for bankruptcy in November, FTX’s relationship with Miami and Florida quickly soured. Miami-Dade County asked a federal bankruptcy court for the right to strip the FTX name off the arena.
Just two months earlier, Mayor Francis Suarez tweeted his support of the move, welcoming the company.
–With assistance from Hannah Miller.
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