Amazon To Build Largest Distribution Center in South Florida After Scoring Approval From Miami-Dade County

Miami-Dade commissioners have voted unanimously to sell a vacant lot located at 13200 Southwest 272nd Street near the Homestead Air Reserve Base in South Miami-Dade County to Amazon for $22,056,853, clearing the way for Amazon to build a new distribution center to service South Florida. Amazon will invest $80 million into the property to build out the distribution center which will be a minimum of 1 million square feet and could become the largest in the region. The distribution center would be used to distribute products including food, produce and groceries. The facility is expected to create at lease 325 permanent full-time jobs with an annual salary of $32,000. 25% of the funds paid by Amazon to acquire the site will be dedicated to the Miami-Dade Affordable Housing Trust and the remaining funds will be allocated to the Homestead Air Reserve Base Fund. The South Miami-Dade facility would be the 4th distribution center used by Amazon in the South Florida region.

Wellness Real Estate Is On The Rise. Inside Healthy Homes With Cyber-Wellness.

The world’s first home automation system was invented in 1966 by Jim Sutherland. ECHO IV, or Electronic Computing Home Operator, allowed users to control their home’s temperature, store recipes or shopping lists, and power appliances. However, ECHO was never commercially sold. 

It would only be until the 1970s when general-purpose home automation technology would be first introduced to the public. At first, the technology was only simple enough to make appliances and light fixtures in homes run more efficiently. Since then, home automation has evolved into smart-home technology and integrative systems for climate, entertainment, security, and more. One such system is the 2019 DARWIN Home Wellness Intelligence platform, the first of its kind ever.

DARWIN is a network designed to be integrated into the home and target respiratory, cardiovascular, and immune and cognitive health through methods including air purification, water filtration, circadian rhythm lighting, and comfort-focused technologies to simulate the outdoors. According to Delos, the company behind DARWIN, the system uses algorithms and sensor technology to help reduce stress, improve quality of sleep, and increase performance. 

Delos believes that our environment, or our homes, are the places that contribute the most to our health--up to 70%, they claim. 

Consumers are considering their health and the ways in which they can upgrade their homes with new technologies more than ever before, especially while many are self-quarantining due to the COVID-19 pandemic. One of the more popular and readily available automation devices is the Amazon Echo, which is a smart speaker that allows users to answer questions, play music, and control home devices. Amazon said in January of 2019 that more than 100 million “Alexa” devices had been sold, highlighting the demand that has risen towards these types of systems.

One Miami-based company that has been the catalyst that simplifies complex innovations in personalized solutions is the tech integration company HEDSouth, which has been installing wellness technology in homes and other spaces since 2018.

HEDSouth is now one of the first 50 accredited and approved dealers for DARWIN, and the only Miami installer for it. HEDSouth, which has expanded into Southern California, also carries electronics and luxury brands such as Lutron for lighting and custom motorized shades, Sonos for Music, Sony for premium video entertainment, and Crestron, Savant, and Josh.ai for complete and simple control.

Developers, real estate leaders, and design professionals alike are thinking ahead about the future of at-home wellness technology, with much of South Florida welcoming its first wellness residences. These include private single-family homes and Coral Gables’s Villa Valencia, the first U.S. condominium development to debut DARWIN. Projects by HEDSouth with wellness elements are underway in Boca Raton, Weston, Fort Lauderdale, and Miami. 

By Isabella Zimmermann

Check Out Miami Worldcenter & Miami Innovation District's Pitch To Transform Downtown Miami Into Amazon's HQ2 Supercampus

Miami Worldcenter and Miami Innovation District have teamed up to offer Amazon a massive opportunity in Downtown Miami's Park West neighborhood for their highly anticipated HQ2. Last week Amazon narrowed the potential cities down to 20 finalists, who are competing to to secure an expected 50,000 jobs and $5 billion in investment. The Miami Worldcenter and Miami Innovation District's pitch is already shovel ready with buildings already under construction regardless of the outcome of Amazon's choice. The proposal is one of eight offered to Amazon in Miami-Dade including 3 within city limits. Other highlights include high zoning density which offers a live, work, play opportunity as well as over 23 million SF of office, residential, retail and hotel space already in the works. Additionally, as the proposed site is within Overtown Community Redevelopment Area boundaries, the projects would be eligible for Tax Increment Financing which could exceed over $1 billion in value.

Miami Worldcenter will feature a 500,000 SF Hines office tower which is expected to break ground Q2 2018, a currently under construction Marriott Marquis Hotel with 1,800 keys, 500,000 square feet convention space . MiamiCentral will feature retail, office, residential and transit. Museum Park features the Frost Museum of Science, Perez Art Museum and luxurious residential towers such as Zaha Hadid's One Thousand Museum, Ten Museum Park and Marquis. The Arsht Center for Performing Arts is also nearby. The campus would also have strong transit connectivity, with four different rail services including the Brightline high speed rail service connecting Miami, Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach, and Orlando; the Tri-Rail to Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties, Metromover through Downtown and Brickell; and the Metrorail, including airport access. Highways include easy access I-95 via 395. 

Miami Doubles Down As A Top 20 Finalist For Amazon HQ2

After PROFILEmiami first reported that Miami was a frontrunner for Amazon's now infamous HQ 2, Miami has now made the final cuts as Amazon has named the top 20 finalists. The cities are competing to to secure an expected 50,000 jobs and $5 billion in investment. The finalists are Atlanta, Austin, Boston, Chicago, Columbus (OH), Dallas, Denver, Indianapolis, Los Angeles, Miami, Montgomery County (MD), Nashville, Newark, New York City, Northern Virginia, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Raleigh (NC), Toronto, Washington, D.C. Miami's application was submitted by the economic-development arms of Broward, Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties although details of the bid have not been made public. 

Jeff Bezos lived in Miami for a period of time during his childhood and has an affinity for South Florida. Miami is an attractive city as it features a high quality of life, strong infrastructure growth, a growing educated workforce, strong job growth, etc. Quality of life has become a major factor when choosing a new headquarter location as both housing cost, livability and amenities play a major roll in a firm's ability to attract top-end talent. Miami has the low pricing when compared with other major cities without sacrificing the quality of life and the city features all of the amenities that highly paid and educated employees seek including top-tier restaurants, recreation and culture. The low cost with a high quality of life in Miami would make it easy for Amazon to attract top-end talent. Some factors that hurt Miami is the lack of public transportation and traffic congestion.

Amazon is Looking For a New City for Amazon HQ2 And Miami Is In The Running

Amazon is looking to invest $5 billion and add 50,000 new jobs over the next 20 years as they have their sights set on building Amazon HQ2. One major metropolitan city is going to get the business and it just so happens that Miami is in the Top 10. Amazon is looking for a city that has over 1 million residents and is located in North America, mainly the United States. Cities are currently now organized bid packages to present to the Amazon RFP. Amazon is also looking to build on a development site that will allow them to build a 3 phase office park style development or retrofit an existing building as long as it fits their criteria. Miami is an attractive city as it features a high quality of life, strong infrastructure growth, a growing educated workforce, strong job growth, etc. Quality of life has become a major factor when choosing a new headquarter location as both housing cost, livability and amenities play a major roll in a firm's ability to attract top-end talent. It has been reported that even those who command six figure salaries in the current tech hub of Silicon Valley and San Francisco are looking to leave the the bay area in search of a lower cost of living without sacrificing their quality of life. Miami has the low pricing when compared with other major cities without sacrificing the quality of life and the city features all of the amenities that highly paid and educated employees seek including top-tier restaurants, recreation and culture. The low cost with a high quality of life in Miami would make it easy for Amazon to attract top-end talent. Some factors that hurt Miami is the lack of public transportation and traffic congestion.