Miami WorldCenter

What’s Next for Miami WorldCenter?

October 5, 2014 By Jennifer LeClaire

MIAMI—For all the talk about Swire’s $1.05 billion Brickell CityCentre, there’s an even bigger project coming to Downtown Miami. In fact, it’s one of the most transformationalcommercial real estate developments in Miami’s history: Miami Worldcenter.

The $2 billion project took an important step forward when the City’s Commission entered a unanimous vote to approve a zoning package and master development agreement that sets the stage for construction to kick off late this year or early next year. What’s next for Miami Worldcenter?

The economic impact begins with Phase One of the 27-acre development. The first phase includes retail, residential towers, and an expo center and adjacent hotel that promises to elevate the blighted neighborhood to destination status.

“Following the City Commission’s approval, we are now a few months away from breaking ground on one of the most important real estate projects that Miami has ever seen,” says Nitin Motwani, managing principal for Miami Worldcenter Associates. “Our master plan for Miami Worldcenter will transform 10 blocks of urban blight into a thriving retail, residential and commercial destination while creating tens of thousands of local jobs and attracting new investment to the City’s urban core.”

Miami Worldcenter is collaboration between master developer Miami Worldcenter Associates and a team of development firms that will tackle various aspects of the project. For example, Forbes Company and Taubman will deliver a 765,000 square-foot shopping mall anchored by Bloomingdale’s, Macy’s, and dining and entertainment options.

Meanwhile, MDM Group will develop a new Marriott Marquis hotel with 1,800 hotel rooms and 600,000 square-feet of meeting and event space. And a mix of residential offerings will bring about 1,000 housing units, including luxury residences, boutique condominiums, and market-rate apartments, to the urban core.

Paco Diaz, a senior vice president with CBRE, tells us it’s interesting that most of the retail boom—at least from a development standpoint—is in the urban core. “There are four mega- projects under construction and two in the final planning stages that will bring around 1.8 million square feet of new retail to the city. Those projects are Brickell City Centre, the Design District, The Mall at Miami Worldcenter, and MiamiCentral.”

Miami Worldcenter is expected to bring nearly 35,000 jobs, including approximately 18,000 direct jobs, to Miami, according to a study by Fishkind & Associates. The expo center should capture new visitors and their spending with events and conferences.

The master plan for Miami Worldcenter has been created by Elkus Manfredi Architects. Greenberg Traurig provided legal counsel surrounding the project’s approved zoning package and development agreement. Kimley Horn & Associates serves as the development’s traffic engineering consultant.

 

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