Joe DaGrosa, founder and chair of DaGrosa Capital Partners, said in an interview with Fox News Digital, "Peter Thiel in signing that lease, marking a milestone of $250 square foot, absolutely incredible. With the signing of that lease, it'd probably take a year or two for a build out. Once that build-out occurs, not just Peter, but his entire team will be coming to Miami, and that entire team will be buyers of homes or renters of homes. So you can see how that has a virtuous-cycle effect of going from commercial to residential."
DaGrosa pointed out that before the COVID-19 boom, top-tier office space in Brickell rented for between $40 and $60 per square foot.
"The entire region is just on fire," Tere Blanca, founder, chair, and CEO of Blanca Commercial Real Estate, also told Fox News Digital. "With billionaires like Larry Page and Peter Thiel and Sergey Brin and others that have taken residency here, what we expect is that they will continue to grow their footprints in the region, as has always been the case, when people migrate to Miami."
Why Tech Founders Are Leaving California
California's ballot measure proposing a billionaire wealth tax has prompted tech founders and institutional leaders to examine the numbers, seeing Florida as a tax haven where capital can be invested with minimal state interference.
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"It's both a quantitative and a qualitative discussion, and those two points go hand in hand," DaGrosa said. "From a quantitative point of view, there's a significant tax savings opportunity at the state-level by moving to Miami." He added, "The concern, certainly on the part of a lot of Californians, it's a wonderful lifestyle out there. Would they be sacrificing lifestyle, the qualitative side of things, for the benefits of the quantitative side? I think they've come to realize that they can have the best of both - tax savings and a great quality of life here that rivals, and I would argue surpasses, many parts of California."
"Companies like Palantir that announced headquarters moved to Miami, Peter Thiel being here, is a… statement to other states about the business practices that make Florida so attractive that they're not seeing in the places where they were residing," Blanca added.
The Ripple Effect on Miami's Economy
DaGrosa expects the rank and file to follow their bosses: "If for no other reason, you need face time with your boss to prove your worth."
What to Watch
DaGrosa sees it as a net positive: "With that influx in capital, states can do more, the county and the city can do more to help their constituents. So I view it as a big positive. It's just more money to go around to improve the quality of life for everyone who's living here."
Blanca cautioned against comparing Miami to Silicon Valley: "I think that the technology business in Miami should not be compared to, 'Oh, this is the next Silicon Valley?'" Instead, she called it "a natural evolution of what we have seen, even before COVID, where the Sun Belt in general is just experiencing a migration that is phenomenal."
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