A Knotel-leased office building in Wynwood has hit the for-sale market, asking $38.5 million, amid buzz over the neighborhood soon becoming home to a Carnegie Mellon University campus.
Morabito Properties is selling its 50,000-square-foot Wyncatcher I at 2143 Northwest First Avenue in Miami, a two-story building with a rooftop. The building was officially listed shortly before the announcement of the incoming Carnegie Mellon Campus.
Tony Arellano and Devlin Marinoff of Dwntwn Realty Advisors have the listing.
Wyncatcher I is fully leased to Knotel’s hospitality-style U.S. Work Club co-working space, with five and half years remaining on the lease term with a three-and-a-half year renewal option, according to Dwntwn’s marketing materials. It includes a bar and a Mexican restaurant operated by Cotidiano Wynwood.
Morabito, a Miami Beach-based real estate firm led by Valerio Morabito, paid $9.3 million for the property in 2019, completing renovations and an expansion in 2024.
It’s part of the company’s two-phased Wynwood adaptive-reuse office-retail project. In 2024, Morabito paid $14.6 million for the adjacent building, Wyncatcher II at 2150 Northwest Miami Court, and also scored a $35 million debt to refinance the Wyncatcher I construction loan and pay for Wyncatcher II’s construction.
Wynwood has experienced several major transformations in the past two decades. Traditionally a garment district, it was redeveloped as an arts district in the 2010s, and developers subsequently tapped the area for condo and multifamily projects.
In its most recent chapter, it has evolved into an office district, with several buildings completed in the past half-decade.
While Wynwood at first attracted cryptocurrency and blockchain tenants, it then became a magnet for venture capitalists and tech firms. Most recently, hype has erupted again over Ken Griffin buying the Mana Wynwood complex from Moishe Mana for a record $1.1 billion, with Carnegie Mellon University opening a campus on the site. More than 3,500 students are expected to enroll at the campus, which will include degrees in human health and biological discovery, national security and strategic capabilities, energy and climate resilience, advanced manufacturing and industrial transformation.
Carnegie Mellon is expected to open in Wynwood in 2028.
Despite the buzz over Wynwood, its office market has consistently had some of the highest vacancy across South Florida submarkets. In the third quarter, the total vacancy in the neighborhood was 33.1 percent, according to CBRE. Brokers have attributed this to the rapid completion of multiple buildings in the past half-decade, arguing the space will be absorbed.
Griffin’s bet on the area includes his $180 million purchase of the 10-story 545Wyn office building, at 545 Northwest 26th Street, in partnership with Goldman Properties in January.
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