Miami Worldcenter Gains Momentum

By Keith Loria, Contributing Editor

Nitin Motwani

Newgard Development Group has filed plans to bring a mixed-use project to Miami Worldcenter, the $2 billion, 27-acre mixed-use project set to rise in the heart of downtown Miami.

Miami Worldcenter will include a 765,000-square-foot shopping mall (including Macy’s and Bloomingdales), approximately 1,000 apartment units and an expo center with an adjacent hotel. The project is nearing its final milestones leading up to the start of construction in the third quarter of this year.

“There is no doubt about it; downtown Miami is defying the odds as one of the best urban success stories of our generation,” Nitin Motwani, Miami Worldcenter Associates’ managing principal, told Commercial Property Executive. “What was once little more than a 9-to-5 employment district that shuttered after dark is today a thriving metropolis with the highest concentration of international banks in the country; largest number of cultural institutions in the Southeast; and one of the fastest growing tech sectors behind New York and Silicon Valley.”

Phase 1 of the property was approved in December, with the 60-story condo tower added to the plan, to sit above retail giants Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s in Miami’s noteworthy mixed-use complex. Construction of a new Marriott Marquis hotel and adjacent expo center will be developed by MDM Group and get underway in late 2015.

According to Motwani, the plan all along for Miami Worldcenter was to build a city within a city so residents and visitors could enjoy a complete luxury lifestyle experience.

“It will create around-the-clock activity on streets that are now dark and empty after sundown, including a new pedestrian promenade,” Motwani said. “We think Miami Worldcenter is the finishing touch that completes downtown Miami, connecting the central business district with the arts and entertainment district.”

Occupying 27 acres in the heart of downtown Miami, Miami Worldcenter is one of the largest private real estate developments underway in the United States. The 10-block project is expected to account for $2 billion in new private investment.

Miami Worldcenter is within walking distance from the Perez Art Museum Miami (PAMM) and the Patricia and Phillip Frost Museum of Science at Museum Park, the American Airlines Arena, the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts, and All Aboard Florida.