Ken Griffin: Citadel's Miami Headquarters 'Will Be An Iconic Building In The World'
Mayors and city officials from across Miami-Dade County greeted Ken Griffin with raucous applause Monday as the billionaire hedge fund founder gave his two cents on how the area should manage the growth he is helping to fuel.
Griffin is developing a billion-dollar headquarters for Citadel and Citadel Securities in Miami's Brickell district, which will also feature a luxury hotel along with workspaces for thousands of financial executives and analysts. Construction is expected to begin next year after the plans for the tower were revealed in August.
“Our headquarters in Miami will not be an iconic building in Miami,” Griffin said at the Miami-Dade County League of Cities’ 12th annual Best Practices Conference Monday morning. “It will be an iconic building in the world.”
Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava introduced Griffin at the banquet hall in the historic Coral Gables Biltmore Hotel, filled with leaders of the cities and towns that dot Florida's most populous county. After he spoke, he was gifted a framed plaque with the keys to 34 municipalities across Miami-Dade.
Griffin, who grew up in Boca Raton, left to attend Harvard University and built his financial empire in Chicago, is the world's 31st-wealthiest person, according to Forbes.
The decision to relocate Citadel’s headquarters from Chicago to Miami stemmed from the pandemic, when Citadel opened a temporary workspace for about 200 employees in Palm Beach. After returning to Chicago, Griffin said conversations with colleagues began to raise the question, “Why did we ever leave Florida?”
“For a 20- or 30-year-old, what’s the easier sales pitch? Come to Chicago, which is frigid, the population is declining … or come to Miami?” Griffin said. “That's really our vantage point.”
Griffin didn't wait to build Citadel's new headquarters to move the company — it is anchoring the just-delivered 830 Brickell office tower, bringing 500 of its 4,700 employees to Miami by the end of this year, the Miami Herald reported.
Citadel has been the main character in the story of large corporations opening offices in Miami. Thoma Bravo, Microsoft and Kirkland & Ellis are all opening offices at 830 Brickell.
“We are going to keep seeing firms come here,” Griffin said.
The firms that are following the tycoon’s lead want to be in a state that embraces them, Griffin said. But he acknowledged the influx of population and wealth has come with consequences.
A July survey found about 75% of Miami residents say the cost of living in Florida isn't manageable.
The solution to these growing pains is more housing inventory, Griffin said in his conversation with Palmetto Bay Mayor Karyn Cunningham. He said the amount of construction happening now will eventually make the cost of housing more affordable, but it will take time.
“If I look at housing, the number of cranes in the skyline gives me a bit of hope,” he said.
Another issue often cited as a potential hurdle on Miami's path to growth is its school system. Griffin donated $20M last year to Miami Dade College and emphasized Monday that institutions like MDC and the University of Miami are key to getting young people to stay in Miami.
He also donated $9M to Miami-Dade County Public Schools for math tutoring and $2.1M to Cristo Rey Miami High School, a private school that opened in 2022, for a new building.
“Education is the future of our country,” he said. “This is where our community is falling behind.”
Griffin added that there needs to be a “clear-cut plan” for public transportation over the next 20 years, as the city “is becoming ever more dense.”
Miami ranks ninth among the most congested cities in the world, with an average of 105 hours lost in congestion as of 2022, according to U.S. News & World Report. Traffic has only worsened since then.
But these are good problems, Griffin said.
“Having lived in Chicago, in a city that has been shrinking, I much prefer the challenges of growth to managing your demise,” Griffin said.
