Systems and techniques for optimizing an integrated circuit (IC) design are described. Some embodiments can transform a circuit design into a logically-equivalent circuit design by: (1) creating a Wire-Length-Area Model (WLAM) for a portion of a first circuit design, (2) creating a second circuit design by replacing the portion of the first circuit design by the WLAM, (3) placing and routing the second circuit design to obtain a placed-and-routed second circuit design, and (4) creating a third circuit design that is logically-equivalent to the first circuit design based on the placed-and-routed second circuit design.