As of this month, January 2015, Centercon Properties is proud to join efforts with our parent company Exclusivee. All of our news and current events will be provided by their impeccable team of Insiders, dedicated to bringing you the latest news in real estate and lifestyle.
Macy’s, Bloomingdale’s Sign Up for Significant Space at Miami CityCentre
In a throwback to the time before Amazon, Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s will be opening huge stores at the future Miami Worldcenter, the enormous mixed-use development planned for the Park West enclave, across from AmericanAirlines Arena. Macy’s will occupy 195,000 square feet, while Bloomy’s will take up 120,000 square feet. The department stores will anchor three stories of retail, which comprise an additional 425,000 square feet, according to the Miami Herald. Regional shopping center developers the Forbes Company and Taubman Centers Inc. are jointly acquiring 10 acres of Miami Worldcenter Associate’s 27-acre spread to build out the stores. The unimaginatively named The Mall at Miami Worldcenter is expected to begin construction in 2014.
CityCentre Welcomes New Resident: Mario Battali’s ‘Eataly’
Related, Plans Three-Tower Development in Brickell
The Related Group plans to build a three-tower mixed-use project at the waterfront Brickell site it is about to acquire. Related is scheduled to close on the purchase of 444 Brickell Avenue next Monday for an undisclosed price, the company announced. Previous reports indicated the company had a contract to buy the four-acre site for about $100 million.
Art and Real Estate are now Intertwined in South Florida
To differentiate their projects in a hotly competitive South Florida condo market, developers are increasingly turning to fine art. Expensive art, in the form of paintings, sculptures and other works, is now a critical part of condo project design in the region, Miami Herald reported. Developers are permanently displaying high-end pieces in the common areas of their condo towers. The international investors scouting new projects, especially Brazilians, Italians and Russians, seek out projects with fine art components. The proliferation of Art Basel Miami Beach has helped intertwine South Florida’s art and real estate worlds. Art Basel’s 12th edition begins on Dec. 5.
Huge Construction at CityCentre
Construction at Brickell Citycentre has just barely left the ground (they’ve been working on the underground bits and pieces for a year) and the megaproject already has nine massive cranes up and running. The first portion to go vertical, a section of the lower-level mall along 8th street, is already six stories high, the second through the fourth being very tall (probably “mall height”) floors. To the north, the foundations look to still be getting dug, and to the east, a bayfront lot that isn’t part of the project (at one point the site of the hoped for “Brickell Green Space) is being used as a staging area.
Walmart’s Midtown Store
After two years of battles between Walmart and local civic activists, the City of Miami has taken everyone by surprise and abruptly approved (Hat tip: Miami New Times) Walmart’s latest plans for a 156,000 square foot store in Midtown. Despite plans which were just recently characterized by an architectural advisory panel as obvious violations of the zoning code, with one panel member even saying “I feel like a violin and I’m being played” those plans, well yeah, were somehow approved yesterday by city planning director Francisco Garcia. Meanwhile Walmart’s opponents plan to appeal the decision and stop the store from being issued building permits.