For office developers, incorporating energy-saving or hurricane-resistant features helps their buildings stand out in an increasingly crowded market and offers cost savings to buyers. By incorporating water-, air- and energy-saving features into his 13-story office condo project called Miami Green, developer William Holly is looking forward to completing one of the first certified “green” office buildings in south Florida next year.

“Corporate America is on board with the green concept,” says Holly, president of Holly Real Estate. “We’re seeing more south Florida buildings with energy-efficient features, and that trend will be moving northward to central Florida in the next year.”

Brickell Financial Center [Photo: Daniel Portnoy]
Foram Development CEO Loretta Cockrum is also aiming for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification from the U.S. Green Building Council on her company’s 1.5-million-sq.-ft. Brickell Financial Centre, which broke ground this spring in Miami. In West Palm Beach, Navarro Lowrey’s EcoPlex at Centrepark West is expected to become Palm Beach County’s first LEED-certified green multitenant office building when completed in the first quarter of 2008.

Meanwhile, a number of developers are marketing hurricane-resistant construction. Crocker Partners and ING Clarion Partners are taking that approach with Atlantic Center, a mixed-use development in downtown Fort Lauderdale with 400,000 square feet of office space. “Our technology infrastructure and hurricane-resistant construction and systems are designed to enable tenants to operate continuously during the most severe conditions,” says Thomas J. Crocker, CEO of Crocker Partners. Construction on Atlantic Center is scheduled to begin in first quarter of 2008.