Redesign of Miami Worldcenter—From “Mall” to Open-Air, Lincoln Road-Esque Shopping District

 
Although the official groundbreaking of Miami Worldcenter is set to begin in March, developers of the $2+ Billion mega-project in Downtown Miami, Miami Worldcenter Associates, announced a few weeks ago that they have decided to change the original plans of a traditional mall to a more “High Street” retail concept boasting a pedestrian-friendly, Lincoln Road meets Lincoln Center type shopping district. That being said, renderings of the newly-designed, high-end shopping district were just released to the public. The new renderings of the retail space show that the shopping district will run from NE 10^th Street to NE 7^th Street between NE 1^st Avenue and NE 2^nd Avenue and will include 2 to 3-story, ultra-luxe shops and fine restaurants interspersed with chic, public promenades and plazas.

Miami Worldcenter Plaza at Night

The original plans for the Mall at Miami Worldcenter, which will be renamed at a later date, was set to include 765,000 square feet of first-class indoor retail space anchored by a 220,000-square-foot Macy’s and a 127,000-square-foot Bloomingdale’s along with a 7^th Street Promenade to span 90,000 square feet boasting fine and casual dining and a variety of entertainment.

However, traditional “box” malls around the country have struggled as of late, so the developers have decided to change their original mall plans into a more Miami-esque shopping district within the urban development that is expected to transform Downtown Miami.

With this transition to a more high-end shopping district, Miami Worldcenter Associates no longer want a big-box Macy’s within the project, even though the developers are trying to “accommodate” Bloomingdale’s in some way…whatever that means. Would losing Macy’s and/or Bloomingdale’s be such a bad thing? I really don’t think so. I think the new plans are much more suitable for Miami.

As a result, the high-end shopping center at Miami Worldcenter could possibly shrink from its planned 765,000 square feet of indoor retail space closer to 450,000 square feet but, at this point, I don’t believe anything is set in stone except for construction, which is currently in process on the site.

Miami Worldcenter—Redesigned Aerial View

Paramount Miami Worldcenter Condos

Now, with this transition to a shopping district at Miami Worldcenter, people are up in arms and complaining about the changes without knowing the facts. Specifically, naysayers are speculating that Paramount Miami, the signature condo development above Miami Worldcenter, will be negatively affected by the recent changes to the “mall. This is simply not true. Further, the amenities available to the residents at Paramount will not change. Just look at the rendering above. The Paramount Miami amenity deck will still include all of the same, over-the-top features that were originally planned!

I truly believe that the changes to the retail portion of the project is helpful to the overall value of Paramount Miami.

Are you interested in purchasing a luxury condo at Paramount Miami Worldcenter, or simply would like an exclusive presentation of the project? If so, please contact me, Michael Light, directly at my office at (305) 350-9842, on my cell at (786) 566-1700 or via email at michael@miamiluxuryhomes.com.