MIAMI — MSC Group, a privately owned cruise ship operator based in Geneva, has opened a new 130,000-square-foot office in downtown Miami. The new offices house the headquarters of the company’s North American Cruise Division and brings together 400 MSC Group team members from both of the company’s brands: MSC Cruises (23 ships) and Explora Journeys (two luxury ships).
“I am thrilled to welcome MSC Group’s North American Cruise Division headquarters to Miami-Dade County, just a few miles from PortMiami,” says Daniella Levine Cava, Mayor of Miami-Dade County. “This exciting investment will create hundreds of new jobs, generate meaningful economic impact and further strengthen Miami-Dade’s position as a global hub for cruise and cargo operations.”
Cava and other civic and private stakeholders held a ribbon-cutting ceremony yesterday at Sawyer’s Walk to welcome MSC Group.
MSC Group invested $100 million into the build-out of the new offices, which occupy the full seventh floor of Block 55 within Sawyer’s Walk, a 1.5 million-square-foot mixed-use development by SG Holdings. Other uses at Sawyer’s Walk include an 18-story affordable seniors housing tower and 180,000 square feet of retail space leased to tenants including Target, Five Below, Aldi, CVS, Starbucks, Ross Dress for Less and Burlington.
According to the Miami-Dade Beacon Council, the new MSC Group office will support an additional 1,500 jobs over the next three years and $300 million annually in recurring direct economic impact in Miami-Dade County.
The new office is the latest investment by MSC Group in South Florida. Last year, the company opened the new MSC Miami Cruise Terminal at PortMiami. The nearly 500,000-square-foot project represents the largest cruise terminal in the world, capable of processing 36,000 passengers daily. MSC Group also debuted its new cruise ship, MSC World America, which ports at the new terminal.
Additionally, the company signed a 33,827-square-foot office lease last year at BayView Corporate Tower in Fort Lauderdale.
— John Nelson