Merrill Lynch is relocating its Coral Gables office and its Downtown Miami district office, with more than 130 financial advisers, to the 355 Alhambra Circle building.

"Merrill Lynch's commitment to 355 Alhambra Circle is a great addition to our strong tenant roster and provides a signature identity for the building," Jack Lowell, vice chairman of Codina Realty Services Inc. ONCOR International, tells GlobeSt.com. "This and the other leases we are completing validates the building as the most successful of the four new structures in Coral Gables."

Lowell says, "In this time of relative slowness in the commercial office market, this activity also demonstrates the validity of the Coral Gables market to office tenants in Miami, and we believe it will generate great momentum for ourselves and the other buildings."

Lowell and Codina broker Christie Grays handled the leases.

In a prepared statement, Brian Sepe, managing director of the Miami Americas Complex of Merrill Lynch, says, "As the gateway to the Americas, Miami is a wonderfully international city and a vibrant market for Merrill Lynch Wealth Management. We've committed substantial resources to Miami."

Representing the tenants in the leasing transactions were CRESA Partners for Merrill Lynch, USI Real Estate Services for Adecco and Axis Realty for Washington Mutual.

355 Alhambra Circle is a 16-story, 233,000-sf class A office building that Codina Group completed last year. It opened for business in March 2001.

The building houses Codina Group Inc.'s 36,000-sf headquarters. Other tenants include: Zubi Advertising, which signed a five-year lease for 24,000 sf; Spencer Stuart, with 10,000 sf for five years; Lott & Friedland, 8,000 sf, five years; and Vestrust Services, 7,000 sf, five years. These leases were announced last summer.