Miami Worldcenter Unveils Construction Timeline for the Mixed-Use Development

Miami Worldcenter is currently the second largest urban development underway in the United States and occupies 27 acres in the heart of downtown Miami. The ten-block project is expected to account for $2 billion in new investment in downtown Miami and will include world-class retail, hospitality, commercial and residential uses. 

The project, whose “master plan has been in the making for more than a decade” is running on all cylinders with more than 800 workers active on site each day as the project prepares to open its first residential phase as early as this year. To date, 4,000 workers have been hired, and approximately 75 percent of those live in Miami-Dade County. A Class AA office tower of this size and scale hasn’t been built in Miami in a decade and its construction coincides with the launch of Brightline’s rail service into Downtown Miami, which will bring Miami commuters to Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach starting Saturday, May 19th.

The developers, Miami Worldcenter Associates, provided PROFILE with this construction timeline:

• CAOBA apartments will welcome renters to its 444 units who are seeking a well-connected location adjacent to multiple transportation hubs in the fourth quarter of this year. 
• PARAMOUNT Miami Worldcenter, a 569-unit luxury condominium tower is slated for completion during the first quarter of 2019. 
• The open-air retail, dining and entertainment component, developed in collaboration with The Forbes Company and Taubman, is underway with more than 140,000 square feet of space in construction and another 160,000 square feet forthcoming in phase one. Delivery is expected to begin in the fourth quarter of 2019.
• MDM Group expects to begin construction of its 1,700 room Marriot Marquis, complete with 500,000 square feet of meeting, exposition and event space, in the fourth quarter of 2018.
• LUMA, a 434-unit luxury apartment tower to be developed by ZOM, will break ground later this year with completion anticipated in 2020.
• A new Class AA office-led mixed-use tower developed by Hines will begin rising out of the ground next year in advance of opening to tenants in 2021.

“Today’s consumers are looking for convenience and connectivity, and Miami Worldcenter delivers on both,” said Nathan Forbes, Managing Partner of The Forbes Company. “We see strong demand for a pedestrian-friendly shopping, dining and entertainment district that will be home to premier brands and inviting public spaces flowing seamlessly with surrounding streets and nearby transit options. Once complete, Miami Worldcenter will become the perfect confluence of arts, culture, entertainment and transportation.” 

Article by Katya Demina

American Dream Miami Undergoing Final Approvals To Bring America's Largest Mall to Miami-Dade

After scoring their first approvals in January, American Dream Miami is currently undergoing its final approvals. If approved and built, the mall would become the largest mall in America, with a cost of over $4 billion. The project will include 1.5 million SF of entertainment and amusement, over 2,000 hotel rooms, an entertainment complex, as well as another 1.5 million SF of retail. The amusement and entertainment section will include a ski slope, indoor water park, indoor roller coaster and a submarine ride. The projected completion and opening would be 2022. The proposal is still under scrutiny from commercial developers such as Simon Property Group, General Growth Properties and Tubman Centers, who have created an opposition called the South Florida Taxpayers Alliance and aim to stop public funds from being contributed to the development of American Dream Miami. 

Check Out Metropica, The $1.5 Billion YOO & Oppenheim-Designed Upscale Mixed-Use Mega-Project Coming To Sunrise

Across from the Sawgrass Mall, one of the largest malls in the United States, developer Joseph Kavana's KGH International Development is building Metropica, the $1.5 billion mixed-use live-work-play mega-project in Sunrise's western corridor. The first residential tower bearing the namesake Metropica has already topped out at 28-stories in January 2018. The high-street retail project covers 65-acres with 8 residential towers and is designed by YOO Design Studio, Oppenheim Architecture, CI Design and EDSA. When complete Metropica will bring 2,250 residential condominiums to the area along with 650,000 SF of office space; 2 boutique hotels with 240 keys each; 485,000 SF of retail, culinary, entertainment; and designated green park space. Stores include Urban Outfitters; Anthropologie; an iPic movie theater; and Sugar Bowl, a home decor store.

The residential tower features residences that range from one-to-three-bedroom floor-plans that range from 740 SF to 1,379 SF start at $460,000 for one-bedrooms, $480,000 for two-bedrooms and $580,000 for three-bedrooms. There will also be a 1,900 SF+ penthouse series that start at $1.1 million. Condos feature spacious open floorplans with balconies, floor-to-ceiling windows, and custom-finished palettes and finishes. Amenities include a saltwater pool, theatre, a private screening room, a play room, tennis courts, and a clubroom. Residents will also have access to the Metropica beach club, tennis courts, a 24-hour fitness center, basketball court, soccer field, fitness & wellness facility, a spa, massage therapy rooms, and a steam room and sauna.

Metropica is expected to be completed in 2021.

Dolce & Gabbana & BALENCIAGA Open New Miami Locations Complete With Solar Panel Façade In Miami Design District

Balenciaga and Dolce & Gabbana have has announced the opening of their new Miami stores located in the fast growing Miami Design District. Both stores are adjacent to eachother, located on the pedestrian Paseo Ponti across from Jade Alley, featuring Daniel Toole's iconic concrete arches. The openings help continue to round out Miami Design Districts link between Palm Court and Paradise Plaza with a classic, pedestrian shopping street lined with some of the world's finest retailers. Miami Design District is being led by developer Craig Robins and the next stage will feature the opening of 10 new restaurants including Ember and Kaido (restaurant by Chef Brad Kilgore), St. Roch Market (food hall), L’Atelier by Joël Robuchon (fine dining), Le Sushi by Joël Robuchon (Japanese), Le Bar by Joël Robuchon (lounge), Le Boutique by Joël Robuchon (bakery).

BALENCIAGA

The Balenciaga boutique building is designed as a site-specific project, with use of functional solar panels as part of its Façade, a unique feature in the brand’s retail network. The pale blue panels are installed above clear glass windows at street-level, with large-scale luminous BALENCIAGA lettering visible from the street.

The interior and furnishings continue the the industrial yet luxurious design which Demna Gvasalia has created for the Paris flagship stores at Rue Saint-Honoré and Avenue Montaigne. Several elements of a state-of-the-art clothing factory are integrated into the two floor layout, which presents product to customers in a direct and uncomplicated way. Balenciaga is a luxury fashion house founded in Spain by Cristóbal Balenciaga in 1919.

DOLCE & GABBANA

Dolce & Gabbana has added Miami Design District to their list of boutiques located in some of the world's finest shopping destinations. As with all of their locations, the MDD location was designed after Teatro alla Scala in Milan. The style cues of La Scala are found throughout the store including the glass and stone façade to the elegant interior which fuses old with new. Details include a selection of stone busts and statues, Baroque mirrors and counters, walnut furniture as well as gold and velvet finishes with clothing is displayed as a art. Dolce & Gabbana was founded in 1985 in Milan. The group is led by Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana, and is one of the leading international groups in the luxury goods sector.

Tour Gucci's recently opened Miami Design District Boutique 

Check out the newly opened St. Roch Market in Miami Design District

Check out PROFILEmiami's coverage of the newly opened Bottega Venneta boutique in Miami Design District

Check out the newly opened Aranguren + Gallegos Arquitectos-designed Institute of Contemporary Art in Miami Design District

A Nichols Brosch Wurst Wolfe Architects-Designed Tower Known As 2nd & 2nd Has Been Proposed in Downtown Miami

A subsidiary of AVR Realty has proposed 2nd & 2nd, an 898', 82-story Nichols Brosch Wurst Wolfe-designed mixed-use tower at 250 SE 2nd Ave. The tower would feature 266 hotel rooms, 637 residential units, 9,245 SF of retail, and 533 parking spaces. The location offers easy access to the Metromover, Brickell and I-95. 2nd & 2nd would replace the current Marriott Courtyard and Whole Foods. The proposal is set to be reviewed by Miami's Urban Development Review Board on April 18.

The Team Behind Segafredo Set To Launch Esotico Miami, A New Craft Cocktail Bar In The Heart of Miami's Arts + Entertainment District

Graspa Group, the team behind the Miami mainstays Segafredo, Salumeria 104 and Spris brands, is teaming up with a celebrity bartender on a new concept at CANVAS in the heart of Miami's Arts + Entertainment District. 

Dubbed “Esotico Miami,” the concept will be located in the ground floor at CANVAS, located at 1630 NE 1st Avenue. Esotico Miami will offer modern tropical cuisine and hand-crafted, exotic cocktails by internationally celebrated bartender Daniele Dalla Pola. It will also provide a home base for local musical talent, a cornerstone of the Arts + Entertainment District mission, featuring live music several nights a week. Esotico Miami will serve dinner and late-night cocktails with seating approximately 100.

“We’re delighted that Graspa has chosen the Arts + Entertainment District for its next venture,” said Nir Shoshani of NR Investments, the developer behind CANVAS and Filling Station Lofts. “This is the team that has made Segafredo one of the most beloved neighborhood cafés in Miami, and we’re confident that Esotico Miami will be equally magical, and become the de facto ‘living room’ for the Arts + Entertainment community. Graspa’s focus on good food and good people, combined with Daniele’s thoroughly original approach to cocktails, is a winning recipe.”

Graziano Sbroggio, founder of Graspa Group, and Dalla Pola launched Segafredo together in the 1990s. Dalla Pola honed his craft in Miami before returning to Italy to launch a restaurant and two successful cocktail establishments. He owns his own rum brand, Alamea and was nominated best bartender in the rum category at the International Rum Conference in Madrid, and one of the best bartenders in the world by Tales of the Cocktail in New Orleans.

“Daniele is a true artist, and every great artist needs a good manager behind him,” said Sbroggio. “He was the first to suggest the location at CANVAS and it didn’t take long to convince me. We see a lot of people moving into the Arts + Entertainment District. It has great connectivity to Downtown, Wynwood and Miami Beach and has a really strong community of local artists and entrepreneurs. We see this as the next great neighborhood in Miami.”

Alex Acker and Frank Rodriguez Melo of Cedano Realty Advisors represented the parties in the transaction to lock up the 2,700 SF space on the ground floor southeast corner of CANVAS. Esotico Miami is expected to open this fall (2018).     

Moishe Mana's Pedestrian Friendly Vision For Redeveloping Flagler Street Unveiled

Construction has been stopped on Downtown Miami's redevelopment of Flagler Street, a project which has seen over 7 years of planning, to discuss pivoting to a new plan proposed by Moishe Mana. Mana, one of Downtown Miami's major land holders, has proposed a new for the the transformation of Flagler Street. Mana is calling for a "curbless" street  with no raised sidewalks in addition to the removal of on-street parking. The changes would allow for a pedestrian friendly outdoor, high-street retail concept with outdoor restaurant seating and entertainment. The streets would also include lush landscaping and bollards for pedestrian safety. Changes to the original plan would cost Miami-Dade tax payers $6 million with funding coming from city, county, DDA and private investors but should the project get delayed county funding may be pulled. Construction is anticipated to take between 36-42 months. 

Retail Preleasing Now Underway For C-F Brickell's Millennial Driven Hotel Replacing Brickell's El Eden Motel

Preleasing is now live for the two ground floor retail spaces at a new Arquitectonica-designed mixed-use "millennial driven" project which C-F Brickell is proposing to replace the recently demolished El Eden Motel just blocks from Brickell City Centre. The project is located at 115 Southwest Eighth Street, 726 Southwest First Court and 110 Southwest Seventh Street. The proposal calls for a mix of 263-keys spread between hotel rooms and micro-apartments. The building will rise 24-stories and covering 250,000 SF of total development, costing about $90 million. In March 2018 Miami's Planning, Zoning and Appeals Board deferred the developers request to rezone the site to higher density until June (2018). C-F Brickell is a joint venture between Tony Cho of of Metro 1 Development and Robert Finvarb of Robert Finvarb Companies. The developers purchased the property in 2016 for $18.4 million.

Jugofresh, The Cold-Pressed Juice Bar That Transformed The Sunset Harbour Neighborhood, Closes Its Doors After 6 Years

It is a sad day for Miami as Jugofresh, the cold-pressed juice bar that served as one of the catalysts that helped transform the Sunset Harbour neighborhood of Miami Beach, has closed its doors after 6 years and ended its partnership with Whole Foods; the announcement effective as of yesterday March 13, 208.

Founder Matthew Sherman referenced his "lack of experience and rapid expansion are what ultimately led us to close." Other factors included revenues of the Sunset Harbour location dropping from $3.2 million in 2013 to $870K in 2017, maintaining a clear brand image when working with a large company (Whole Foods), and "retail businesses are getting increasingly harder to maintain with rising rents and online stores." Increased competition from new juice bars also contributed to the closure. Sherman was also the founder of Paradigm Kitchen, also in Sunset Harbour, which closed in April 2017 after seven months of operation due to lack of income.  

Jugofresh was founded in 2013 after Matthew Sherman decided to take his fast growing "Miami Juice Club" to brick-and-mortar retail and opened Jugofresh's first location in Sunset Harbor. Sherman later went on to open additional locations in Wynwood, Coral Gables, and in all Whole Foods locations in Miami and Fort Lauderdale. Jugofresh had also launched their CPP retail cold-pressed juice line and

All may not be lost for Jugofresh though, Sherman is listed as one of the Miami Based chefs bringing both of his concepts, Jugofresh and Paradigm Kitchen, to Time Out Market Miami. Time Out Market Miami will be South Beach's first food hall concept expected to open later this year on Lincoln Road. With the abrupt closing of all Jugofresh locations and the removal of their website, comment has not been made on if Jugofresh will in-fact still be a vendor at Time Out Market Miami. 

alice + olivia by Stacey Bendet Opens Latest Flagship Location in Craig Robins' Miami Design District

The Miami Design District just welcomed alice + olivia by Stacey Bendet’s latest flagship store. Featuring  contemporary interior design, including a zig-zag black and white marble floor, the store will carry the brand’s complete collection, including ready-to-wear, gowns, shoes, accessories and the newly launched denim line, AO.LA by alice + olivia. 

CEO and Creative Director, Stacey Bendet, collaborated with Robert Couturier, renowned French interior designer, using the elegant works of Jean-Michel Frank from the 1930s for inspiration. 

Bendet commented, “We love the energy and style of the women in Miami and we are very excited to continue to expand our fashion community with our newest Flagship store in the Design District!” 

The alice + olivia store is located at 99 NE 39th Street, Suite 107/207, Miami, FL 33137. Store hours are 11 am to 8 pm Monday through Saturday and 12 pm to 6 pm on Sunday.

Article by Katya Demina | Photos via Alice + Olivia & Robin Hill Photography