Downtown Miami is an emerging hub for cultural, social, financial, commercial and civic activities for the region. And, given its geographic proximity to Latin America and the Caribbean, it is an international finance capital and a city of global significance.
The momentum of growth and investment within the Downtown area has been stronger than in other parts of Miami-Dade County. There is a significant amount of development among a wide range of uses under construction or in the planning stages, and this development is not just focused on serving the immediate area. As a result, Downtown Miami is well positioned to be a primary hub and anchor for most of these projects.
INFRASTRUCTURE
Downtown Miami ranks among the top five places in the U.S. for walkability and is the hub for rapid transportation. Thousands of people beat daily traffic by utilizing the Metrorail and Metromover elevated transit systems. Downtown enjoys direct and quick access to the I-95 and I-395 highways with major connection to downtown freeways such as Biscayne Blvd., Flagler St. and Miami Ave. PortMiami is directly adjacent to Downtown Miami and Miami International Airport (MIA) is just 20 minutes away by car or rail. Capital improvement projects, including streetscape redesign, wayfinding signage, and bicycle and pedestrian enhancements, continue to make Downtown even easier and safer to navigate.
• Airport & Seaport o Miami International Airport: In addition to being the nation’s second largest airport for international passenger travel, MIA is the number one airport in the U.S. for international freight – and the only U.S. airport in the top 10 globally. o PortMiami: Due to its strategic location, PortMiami lists among its Top 10 trading partners countries from Asia, Europe, South and Central America, and the Caribbean. The City of Miami, Miami-Dade County, and the State of Florida invested heavily to prepare PortMiami for the opening of the expanded Panama Canal, making it the only major logistics hub south of Virginia with this capacity.
• Telecommunications/Data Connectivity o Network Access Point (NAP) of the Americas: The Equinix NAP of the Americas® is a Tier IV data center designed to interconnect the U.S. and the Americas with the rest of the world. The NAP of the Americas makes Downtown Miami one of the world’s top five best interconnected cities in the world -ahead of San Francisco, Chicago and Washington, D.C. – and is the only facility in the U.S. where optical, Ethernet, voice and internet traffic are exchanged at one location.
• Rail Access o Brightline (Soon to be US Virgin Trains): Launched in 2018, Brightline is an express passenger rail service connecting the downtown cities of Miami, Ft. Lauderdale and West Palm. Within the next five years, it will also connect to Orlando and Tampa. o Tri-Rail: This is a commuter rail service connecting Florida’s three southeast communities of: Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach. By December 2019, it is expected to connect to the new MiamiCentral Station in Downtown Miami. o Metrorail: This is a 25-mile rail that provides service to Miami International Airport and runs from Kendall through South Miami; Coral Gables; and Downtown Miami; to the Civic Center/Jackson Memorial Hospital area; and to Brownsville; Liberty City, Hialeah, and Medley in northwest Miami-Dade. It also connects to transfer stations for Brightline, Tri-Rail, the Metromover, among other mass transit options. o Metromover: This is a free and fully-automated, electrically powered transportation system that operates seven days a week in the downtown area with major destinations including: the American Airlines Arena, Bayside Marketplace, Miami-Dade College, the Miami-Dade County School Board, and Government Center. It also connects to Metrobus at various locations throughout Downtown.
DEMOGRAPHICS
A combination of new residential real estate projects in Downtown Miami and a high concentration of employers, has attracted many young professionals and families in recent history. Most of the population in downtown are highly educated, young working professionals with 60% of the population attaining a bachelor’s degree or higher. The median household income significantly exceeds that of the City of Miami with the 2018 median income reaching $76, 610 annually.
Th residential population in the Greater Downtown Miami area is currently 92,235. And it’s expected to reach 109,617 by 2021. The population is broken down into the following age groups, ethnicities and race: • Age o 0-19 Years: 16% o 20-24 Years: 8% o 25-64 Years: 66% o 65-85 Years: 10% • Ethnic and Racial o Hispanic: 59% o White, non-Hispanic: 23% o Black, non-Hispanic: 13% o Asian, non-Hispanic: 3% o Two or More Races, non-Hispanic: 1% • Foreign-born o 52%
AVAILABLE REAL ESTATE • Overview of the Development Pipeline within Greater Downtown Miami o Under Construction . 28 Projects . Residential Units: 7,063 . Hotel Units: 633 . Retail SF: 376,972 . Office SF: 90,000 o Planned . 15 Projects . Residential Units: 1,509 . Hotel Units: 3,817 . Retail SF: 106,830 . Office SF: 831,064
Below is a list of properties for sale located in an Opportunity Zone within Downtown. Property Address: Miami-Dade Zoning Lot Size Property Code: Square Appraiser footage: Folio #: 1600 NE 1 AVE Miami, FL 33132 01-3136- T6-24A-O 49,532 SQ FT 096-0001 -
229 SW 1 ST Miami, FL 33130 01-4137- T6-36B-O 5,375 SQ FT 035-0020 -
237 SW 1 ST Miami, FL 33130 01-4137- T6-36B-O 4289 SQ FT 035-0010 -
205 SW 3 ST Miami, FL 33130 01-0114- T6-36B-O 9,442 SQ FT 000-1140 -
200 W FLAGLER ST Miami, FL 33130 01-0113- T6-36B-O 32,234 SF 080-1010 -
224 W FLAGLER ST Miami, FL 33130 01-0113- T6-36B-O 3,049 SQ FT 080-1050 -
228 W FLAGLER ST Miami, FL 33130 01-0113- T6-36B-O 3,049 SQ FT 080-1060 -
234 W FLAGLER ST Miami, FL 33130 01-0113- T6-36B-O 6,098 SQ FT 080-1070 -
40 SW N RIVER DR Miami, FL 33130 01-4137- T6-8-O - 4,500 SQ FT 036-0080
Additional information on these properties (and others) can be found by searching address/folio number on https://www.miamidade.gov/propertysearch/#/ and http://maps.miamigov.com/miamizoning/
UPCOMING DEVELOPMENTS/INVESTMENTS: INFRASTRUCTURE
Baywalk/Riverwalk Through a general obligation bond, the City of Miami will invest $25mm to complete five miles of connected waterfront trails along Downtown Miami’s waterfront. Once complete, the Miami Baywalk & Riverwalk will be a 10-mile connected urban trail & waterfront promenade and safe transportation alternative for cyclists and pedestrians in the urban core https://miamibaywalk.herokuapp.com/page/about
Flagler Street The City of Miami and Miami-Dade County are investing $16mm to upgrade Downtown’s historic Flagler Street with wider sidewalks and outdoor dining spaces, prompting the creation of Flagler District. Also, Moishe Mana, a New York based entrepreneur with extensive investments in Wynwood, has spent $300mm + for 39 office and retail properties on Flagler Street in the last few years. His team is working on a 5-10-year timeline for developing the Flagler District Downtown. http://flaglerstreetmiami.com/history
I-395 Improvements The project will completely reconstruct the existing interstate and create a signature bridge that will span 1,025 feet over NE 2 Avenue and Biscayne Boulevard redefining the Miami skyline with its six sweeping arches. The project will add additional capacity to I-395 with a total of three through lanes in each direction and provide connector ramps for traffic to and from I-95. http://www.fdotmiamidade.com/i395designproject
State Road (SR) 836 Improvements This project is a continuation of Miami Dade Exchange’s work program to modernize the SR 836 corridor. The improvements on SR 836 include the double-decking of SR 836, allowing drivers to bypass the I-95 Interchange and touch down at I-395 east of I- 95. The double-decked section will have two lanes in each direction and will allow drivers continuing east to Watson Island, PortMiami and Miami Beach to entirely bypass the Midtown interchange and its ramps. In addition, the existing eastbound SR 836 ramp to northbound I-95 will be widened to include an additional lane greatly reducing the congestion that drivers currently experience. http://www.fdotmiamidade.com/i395designproject
I-95 Concrete Replacement Project The project will include the replacement of the concrete pavement for both the northbound and southbound travel lanes. An auxiliary lane will be added along northbound I-95 from north of NW 17 Street to NW 29 Street to receive the additional traffic from the eastbound SR 836 ramp to northbound I-95 and enhance the flow of traffic through the Midtown Interchange.
http://www.fdotmiamidade.com/i395designproject
UPCOMING DEVELOPMENTS/INVESTMENTS: MAJOR REAL ESTATE PROJECTS
Nexus Riverside Lancelot Miami River LLC, an affiliate of Adler Development is developing a 1.59 acre site located at 230 SW 3rd Street, directly adjacent to the Miami River. The plan calls for the development of four towers; City office 280,000 square feet, multi-family 325 rental units, and two additional residential towers with approximately 1.2 million of combined square footage. https://adlergroup.com/adler-development/
Brickell City Centre (Phase 2) Brickell City Centre is a mixed-use development in downtown Miami from Swire Properties Inc. Swire has filed plans with the City of Miami for an extension of its existing special area plan that would include an additional two residential condo towers, which would be connected to each other and connected to the existing three-block complex by new skybridges. The expansion plan will be built in two phases. The 588- unit, mixed use tower is estimating a start date for construction in the first half of 2020 and will include a three-level retail base with 87,000 square feet of enclosed retail space. The second condo tower will be developed later and will likely be a boutique residential tower. https://www.swireproperties.com/en/portfolio/current-developments/brickell-city- centre.aspx
Miami Worldcenter Miami World Center is a mixed-use project covering 17mm square feet of commercial development. The 27-acre complex features Paramount Miami condominium; Caoba, a 444-unit apartment tower that is now leasing and open; CitizenM hotel, a 348-room hotel offering an affordable luxury experience; and Luma, a 434-unit rental tower. In addition, Hines is preparing to build a new tower that will comprise up to 500,000 square feet of Class A office space and MDM Group is planning a 1,700-room Marriott Marquis hotel and adjacent expo center. Surrounding infrastructure improvements are ongoing— three Metromover stations, landscaping, sidewalks, water, sewer, electric, and fiber optic cable. http://miamiworldcenter.com
Miami Innovation District The Miami Innovation District will create a thriving, global, connected live-work-play ecosystem for innovation and entrepreneurship. The development site covers 10+ acres with programming of 7mm square feet of commercial space across 10.4 acres, including 3.9mm square feet of office programs; 2.4mm square feet of residential planned for construction. http://innovatemiami.com
GOVERNMENT PROGRAMS
DDRI A significant portion of Downtown Miami is located within the Downtown Development of Regional Impact (DDRI), which has significant advantages for investment and development when compared to other areas. Th DDRI is under the jurisdiction of the Miami Downtown Development Authority. And, with: dedicated funds committed to infrastructure improvements; custom approval process; and significant reduction in impact fees, DDRI is a magnet for development.
Two large portions of Downtown Miami’s Opportunity Zones (http://www.miamidda.com/wp-content/uploads/2018_Opportunity-Zones.pdf ) are located within the DDRI, thus providing an additional level of benefits for investments in those specific areas.
Parking Miami 21, the first new urbanist zoning code to be applied to a lager, preexisting city, allows for a 100% waiver of parking requirements for residential buildings and a 50% waiver of the parking requirements for all commercial structures located within half a mile of a public transportation station. Nearly the entire Miami DDA district can take advantage of this reduction. With numerous modes of public transport available in Downtown Miami, this provides an opportunity to build residential units without providing any parking and to construct commercial buildings with only 50% of the generally required parking spaces. Such flexibility significantly cuts construction costs, encourages walkability, creates more affordable housing, and reduces the use of cars.