Ken Griffin bought every condo in a Brickell tower. That was the small part

A tower bought one condo at a time

Ken Griffin, the Citadel founder, had companies buy every condo in Brickell's 22-story Solaris tower, one unit at a time, for a block across from his planned headquarters. That was the small part: in September he paid $1.1 billion for about 30 acres of Wynwood land. On July 23, Miami's commissioners voted 5-0 to sell his company the block's last lot, a 1905 doctor's office, without bidding.

Why it matters: Miami New Times calls the one-by-one buyout a version of the condo-termination process that has become common in Miami. Bisnow says putting together the headquarters site took Griffin four years and more than $770 million.

The story so far: In 2022, Griffin told Citadel staff the firm was moving its global headquarters from Chicago to Miami. That April, a buyer tied to Citadel paid $363 million for a waterfront lot on Brickell Bay Drive.

What's new: Citadel's chief workplace officer, Paul Darrah, said June 11 that Griffin owns every Solaris unit. Bloomberg laid out the buyout July 2, and the city voted July 23 to sell the last lot.

The buyout

Buyout offers at the Solaris, at 1155 Brickell Bay Drive, "began arriving one by one from mysterious LLCs," Bloomberg reported. "Some sold right away, happy to turn a moderate profit." Others held out for a better price. "Behind the web of LLCs was Ken Griffin," Bloomberg wrote, counting 138 condos in all.

For two years the purchases came through a series of anonymous Delaware companies, each buying single units for cash, Miami New Times reported. Darrah confirmed at a Bisnow real estate summit on June 11 that Griffin was the buyer. Owners told The Wall Street Journal that Griffin kept raising his offers until enough of them agreed to sell, New Times reported.

In 2024, WLRN, citing the Journal, reported that Delaware companies had bought at least 67 of the condos and that owners suspected Griffin, because those companies shared a registered agent with the ones that bought his nearby land. A Citadel spokesman declined to comment then.

Griffin paid roughly $125 million for the condos, Bisnow reported, citing Bloomberg. Demolition of Solaris is expected to begin soon, a person with knowledge of his plans told Bisnow. In its place, a May 13 filing proposes 300 apartments and a 1,420-space garage, New Times reported. The project goes through Miami-Dade County review, not city zoning, because the land sits in the county's Rapid Transit Zone.

The last lot was a 1905 doctor's office

Dr. James M. Jackson moved to Miami in 1896 and became the city's first resident physician, the state's historical marker says. He built a one-story frame office behind his house in 1905. It was sold in 1916 and moved by land and barge to 190 SE 12th Terrace. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975, and the city hospital was renamed for Jackson after his death in 1924, the marker says.

The office is now the headquarters of Dade Heritage Trust, "Miami's largest historic preservation organization," the marker says. The city designated it a landmark in 1983, its preservation office says.

On July 23 the City Commission voted unanimously, with changes, to sell the city-owned lot to 1250 BB Asset Co LLC, a Delaware company that owns the land next door, for $2,980,000. Bloomberg calls the buyer an LLC controlled by Griffin, WLRN calls it Griffin's company, and NBC 6 says it is connected with him.

The resolution uses a charter rule that drops bidding when the city sells a small or unbuildable parcel off the water to the owner next door. The price equals the higher of two independent appraisals, and the net proceeds go to the Brickell Key Bridge. The buyer takes the lot subject to Dade Heritage Trust's 2022 lease.

The cottage is not staying. Griffin's company promised the trust the building itself and a move to a new lot in Coconut Grove, WLRN reported. Any action on the protected building still needs the city's Historic and Environmental Preservation Board, WLRN reported.

What Griffin has spent in Miami

In April 2022, a buyer paid $363 million for the 2.5-acre lot at 1201 Brickell Bay Drive, one of the last vacant plots on Biscayne Bay in Brickell, Commercial Observer reported. It called the sale the most expensive land deal in the city's history. In June 2022, the 26-story office building across the street at 1221 Brickell Avenue sold for $286.5 million. Bloomberg tied both buyers to Citadel.

Bisnow puts the whole project at $2.5 billion: the Citadel and Citadel Securities headquarters on the waterfront lot, an apartment building and possibly a hotel. Office space has grown to 1.7 million square feet, and Citadel plans to take about 560,000, Bisnow reported. The project's lawyer, former Miami Beach Mayor Neisen Kasdin, told the county commission it is a $2.5 billion private investment, New Times reported.

On Sept. 29, developer Moishe Mana closed the sale of about 30 acres in Wynwood to Griffin for $1.1 billion, Fox Business reported. Griffin's $3 billion gift to Carnegie Mellon University includes $2 billion for a Wynwood campus and $1 billion for Pittsburgh, the AP and CBS12 reported. The $2 billion counts the value of the land Griffin bought from Mana, Refresh Miami reported, so the two figures overlap. Carnegie Mellon says Griffin has committed roughly $2.4 billion to South Florida in all.

Their side

"For us, owning this building and ensuring its long time preservation and the use is a positive," Christine Rupp, executive director of Dade Heritage Trust, told WLRN. "Once they have control of this site, Citadel will give this building to Dade Heritage Trust. They will relocate it and pay for the construction and maintenance."

Local preservation advocates spoke against the sale, arguing it would eliminate one of the few historic structures left in Brickell, WLRN reported. Some residents still object over Brickell's history and transparency, NBC 6 reported. "We have an interest, we just want to be informed and not left in the dark," resident Elena Kasparis said.

City Commissioner Miguel Gabela called Griffin "a good corporate citizen and a man of his word," Bisnow reported, citing the Miami Herald. Of the Wynwood campus, Griffin said: "The opportunity to bring Carnegie Mellon to Miami places our city at the heart of humanistic and scientific advancement."

What's next

What's next: The city's preservation board must still approve any move of the cottage; we found no hearing date. Citadel began soil work to prepare for vertical construction by the end of this year, Bisnow reported. Carnegie Mellon expects to start building the Wynwood campus in 2027 and enroll students in 2028, pending approvals, CBS12 reported.

Sources we read

Bloomberg (Anna J Kaiser, Michael Smith, Dina Katgara), July 2, 2026, and (Daniel Cancel) July 17, 2026, read to their paywalls. Miami New Times (Nicholas Yee), June 12. Bisnow (Chloe Gallivan), July 28. City of Miami, Resolution R-26-0338, July 23. WLRN (Joshua Ceballos), July 23, 2026, and Nov. 19, 2024. NBC 6 Miami, July 23. Florida Department of State, Florida Historical Marker Program. City of Miami Historic Preservation. Commercial Observer (Julia Echikson), April 21 and June 29, 2022. Fortune, June 23, 2022. Fox Business, Oct. 2. Carnegie Mellon University, Sept. 30. Associated Press via WDIV, Sept. 30. CBS12, Sept. 30. Refresh Miami, Sept. 30.