When Citadel Securities’ CEO, Ken Griffin, decided he wanted to leave Chicago for Miami, he needed a place to house his employees and others who wanted to be tenants in his 54-story tower. Bloomberg reports that the tower had long been expected to cost $1 billion. Griffin said, “Due to inflation in the cost of construction, that’s going to be about a $2.5 billion tower.”

Citadel is planning a tower at 1201 Brickell Bay Drive, comprising 1.7 million square feet, which will combine offices with a roughly 413,000-square-foot hotel on the upper floors, according to plans filed with Miami-Dade County. 

The waterfront project had been expected to break ground in the third quarter of 2025. 

Griffin relocated his financial conglomerate from Chicago to Miami in 2022.

He praised South Florida for its safe streets, oceanfront homes, sense of community, schools and strong property appreciation over the last few years.