A new plan for Miami’s downtown as county reveals $10 billion redevelopment effort

Miami-Dade County is offering up 17 acres of downtown Miami real estate to developers to transform a collection of garages, government buildings, parking lots and the library complex into an eight-block neighborhood with shops, high-rise apartments and restaurants built around the Stephen P. Clark Government Center.

“It’s very exciting,” said Eileen Higgins, the county commissioner whose district includes the proposed development parcels.

She said developers would be asked to create their own visions for how the 17 acres of county land should be used to create housing, park space, entertainment spots and a more convenient transit center out of a downtown area that’s mostly desolate at night. Higgins said a full transformation is on the table for an area that, when adding in streets and other land around the development sites, spans 28 acres.

“The streets don’t have to stay the way they are,” Higgins said during a Wednesday presentation of the development strategy. “We’re flexible.”

The county plan also calls for new schools in the neighborhood, covering pre-Kindergarten to high school.

Alex Muñoz, director of the county’s Internal Services Department, which manages county-owned property, estimated the winning developer would spend about $10 billion to create the kind of project proposed by Miami-Dade. He expected the winning bid to be awarded in 2024.

In exchange for 11 development sites, the winning bidder would pay Miami-Dade for use of the property. The county would cover costs for construction of new government facilities.

Miami-Dade expects redevelopment of the area to take 12 to 15 years to complete. Muñoz said he thinks the proposed bidding process represents the priciest real estate the county has offered up for lease to the private sector.

“It’s probably the largest development project the county has put together,” he said.

The development parcels include county-owned property around the Clark Center, the 29-story office tower that’s housed county government operations since it opened in 1985. The Clark Center would stay intact, but the existing County Commission chambers housed in a side building would be demolished for more modern and spacious quarters elsewhere in the area.

Developers would also have to create new headquarters for Parks and Recreation, Juvenile Services and other county offices currently housed in a building slated for demolition under the development guidelines released this summer by Miami-Dade. They anticipate construction of 23 million square feet of new building space, with a mix of office, retail and residential uses. The area currently has no residential buildings.

Among the county properties included in the development proposal:

• The Hickman Building, home to Parks and Juvenile Services, at 275 NW Second St.
• Parking lot next to the Children’s Courthouse at 155 NW Third St.
• The county’s Cultural Center, a block of buildings that houses the downtown library and History Miami. Both would move to new locations under the plan, with the center set for demolition to clear way for new towers.
• Parking lots outside the Clark Center to be converted into a new bus depot and transit hub, connecting to the existing Metrorail station and linking with the nearby Brightline train complex that’s also set to be the new Miami stop for Tri-Rail.

Some of the new towers could go as high as 75-feet tall. The proposal does not include Miami-Dade’s 1928 Civil Courthouse, a building that’s being abandoned for a modern replacement under construction next door. Higgins said that historic property would be put up for sale in a separate bidding process.

Higgins, who has worked with Muñoz and his staff to prepare the development documents, said the strategy behind putting up the land for bid all at once is to create a cohesive plan that transforms the area into a bustling commercial area that’s also livable.

“It has to create neighborhood,” she said. “If it’s not going to create a neighborhood, I’m voting against the project.”

This story was originally published August 11, 2022 at 9:40 AM.