(Crystal Proenza is associate editor of Real Estate Florida.)

MIAMI-The Miami Herald Publishing Co. has found an office tenant for the 50,000 square feet available at its headquarters, One Herald Plaza. Brown Mackie College, a subsidiary of Pittsburgh, PA-based Education Management Corp., has signed a 10-year lease valued between $18 million and $20 million. The deal is the biggest office lease of the year to date, according to Cushman & Wakefield, which represented the tenant in the transaction.

Brown Mackie College currently shares space at its sister school, the Art Institute at the Omni building across the street from the Miami Herald headquarters. Their newly leased space will serve as the college's Miami campus.

The higher-education provider chose the space within the Miami Herald building because of its convenient location, visibility and contiguous space availability, says Alan Kleber, co-manager of Cushman & Wakefield's Miami tenant advisory practice. "The space enabled them to be on one single floor plate, and the lease provided some contractual flexibility in regards to growth," Kleber tells GlobeSt.com. He adds that the site's proximity to a Metro Mover stop was also important in the decision.