License Agreement Ends Between Brightline And Virgin Trains USA Amid COVID-19 Pandemic

The partnership between Brightline and Virgin Trains has been terminated amid the COVID-19 pandemic and South Florida’s new commuter train service will go back to using the Brightline brand. The train service which runs between Downtown Miami, Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach, has not run since March 25 and has laid off 250 employees. Virgin Trains USA was expected to make a minority investment into the Brightline train system which was set to complete their rebrand to Virgin Trains by mid-2020. Brightline and Virgin Trains had signed a Licensing Agreement in November 2018 although Brightline’s parent company, Fortress Investment Group, reportedly sent a termination notice in July of this year.

Virgin Trains Announces Aventura, PortMiami & Boca Raton Stations Will Open In October 2020

Virgin Trains has announced that both the Aventura, PortMiami and Boca Raton stations are expected to come online in October 2020. Formerly known as Brightline, the train line is now in negotiations with Orlando entertainment parks and venues for a 2nd Orlando station while the Orlando International Airport station remains on schedule. Aventura will get a $77 million train station with on-site parking and a pedestrian bridge to Aventura Mall, which is the 2nd most visited mall in the United States with over 28 million visitors annually. Construction is expected to start late December 2019 to early 2020. The Boca raton station expects to break ground before the end of 2019 as well. Other stations in the works include PortMiami which is expected to open in late 2020 with construction set to begin in Q1 2020. The PortMiami, Aventura and Boca Raton stations are expected to bring an additional 2 million riders to the train system with Virgin Trains now looking at a railway expansion west of the Orlando International Airport. Virgin continues its expansion into South Florida with Virgin Voyages, Virgin Hotels and Virgin Trains.

Blue Jay Capital Gearing Up To Break Ground On Virgin Hotels Brickell Tower With Co-Living

Blue Jay Capital is getting ready to break ground on a 40-story hotel project at 1040 S. Miami Ave. which will be Miami’s first Virgin Hotels location with a second location planned for South Beach. Virgin Hotels Brickell Tower is designed by the Atlanta-based BLUR Workshop. The Brickell property will feature 250 hotel rooms, 150 residential units, a 3-story terraced rooftop lounge with pool, library, coffee shop, beer garden, live music venue, spa, restaurant, bar, social club and 15,000 SF of meeting and event space. The residential component will offer micro units, some of which will be under 400 SF, as well as co-living units with 3-4 bedrooms. The hotel and residential components will share the amenities. Groundbreaking is expected for 2020 with an expected completion date in 2023.

Virgin Continues Push Into South Florida, Reveals New PortMiami Terminal For Virgin Voyages

Just days after Virgin Trains USA announced it had taken a minority stake in Brightline and presented plans to the Securities and Exchange Commission for permission to conduct an initial public offering of stock, Richard Branson has continued his push into South Florida as Virgin Voyages prepares to launch. Virgin has now revealed a new $150 million terminal in PortMiami for Virgin Voyages whose first ship, Scarlet Lady, will launch in 2020. The new 2-story terminal is being designed by Arquitectonica and will be made of storm resistant glass which will resemble a palm tree. Virgin is currently awaiting approval from Miami-Dade commissioners before breaking ground.