GlobeSt.com caught up with Chris Dekker, vice president of Mayfair Real Estate Advisors and Tere Blanca, president and CEO of Blanca Commercial Real Estate, to get their take on the office aspects of this project in part one of this exclusive interview.

GlobeSt.com: It’s been 30 years since a new office building was built in Coconut Grove. Why are two new buildings launching at the same time?

Dekker: Coconut Grove is experiencing three decades of pent-up office demand from in and around the area that has led to a submarket vacancy rate of less than 2%—the lowest in all of South Florida. The Grove is coming alive with new condos, restaurants and shops, so we view the development of new Class A office space as the final ingredient that will complete the neighborhood’s comeback. Mary Street, like Terra’s nearby towers at Grove at Grand Bay and Park Grove, represent a new wave of design-driven infill development that is taking advantage of Coconut Grove’s walkability and central location.

GlobeSt.com: Coconut Grove has primarily been known as a retail and residential destination. How does office space factor into the neighborhood’s commercial mix?

Blanca: The addition of new class A office space at One CocoWalk will make the CocoWalk shopping complex more relevant for locals again, after more than a decade of being a destination for tourists. By welcoming new companies and hundreds of additional employees into the neighborhood, we’ll be boosting the area’s daily population and driving more activity on the streets throughout the day, which will benefit the Grove’s retailers and restaurants on a daily basis.

 

Source: GlobeSt.