Genting Group has received five bids over $1 billion following a marketing period led by Avison Young’s Florida Capital Markets Group for the former Miami Herald site in Downtown Miami, one of the largest and most valuable development sites in the United States. The largest bid values the property at just under $1.5 billion for the rare Omni District waterfront site. The land is a ±15.5-acre development opportunity which was dubbed BayCity Miami and is currently host annually to ArtMiami and CONTEXT Art Miami during Miami Art Week as ArtMiami’s Art Wynwood show in February. The property was previously occupied by the Miami Herald headquarters which was demolished in 2014.
Located at 1431 N Bayshore Drive in Miami the property features 800 linear feet of direct Biscayne Bay frontage and highly aggressive zoning in one of Miami’s most dynamic and connected neighborhoods, it is considered the most desirable development site offering in the city’s history and one of the largest waterfront land assemblages currently available in the U.S. The property has the potential to build a landmark mixed-use office, retail, residential, hospitality, and entertainment destination.
Genting Group appointed Avison Young’s Florida Capital Markets Group led by Avison Young Principals Michael T. Fay, John K. Crotty, CCIM; David Duckworth, and Vice President Brian C. de la Fé to spearhead the marketing and sale of property. Genting Group, one of the largest resort and entertainment and gaming corporations in the world which operates Resorts World, will remain invested in the Omni area, maintaining ownership of parcels spanning 10 acres west of Biscayne Boulevard.
Spanning several lots, including the former Miami Herald headquarters site, the property is in the Metromover subzone of Miami-Dade’s mixed-use zoning of RTZ (Rapid Transit Zone). With South Florida’s most generous zoning designation, the site has unlimited buildable square footage, no setbacks, a height limited only by the FAA regulations (649 feet) and a potential density of over 8,000 units. The RTZ zoning provides developers an enormous, highly flexible building envelope and the opportunity to develop a singular waterfront development of incredible scale.
Over the past 2.5 years, Miami has become a Tier-1 American city, on par with New York City and Los Angeles. According to proptech platform AVANT by Avison Young, Orbital Insight, Miami is outperforming most top U.S. metropolitan cities, including New York, as far as daily visitors to the city’s downtown urban core. Additionally, high-income earners and some of the most successful financial services, technology and cryptocurrency firms continue to relocate to Miami from other major metros. Rents across commercial real estate asset classes in Miami are at all-time highs, and development sales continue to break records.
