Pedestrians pack the streets, dipping in and out of the newly opened shops and restaurants that line the wide sidewalks and plazas of Miami Worldcenter. But this scene is more than just a bustling weekday downtown.
It marks the culmination of a 20-year vision the developers dreamed of when they began planning this $6 billion mixed-use neighborhood, the nation's second-largest project of its kind, which is still underway.
Miami Worldcenter Associates, led by Art Falcone and Nitin Motwani, envisioned Miami Worldcenter as a walking-friendly downtown neighborhood when they first started working on the project in the early 2000s, drawing inspiration from Paris, London and other global cities that were developed before the advent of the automobile.
"It's people that make great communities, not just buildings. You can build beautiful buildings, but if you have four-foot sidewalks, that doesn't create a sense of place to people to co-mingle and come together. That's what we've accomplished here," said Motwani, managing partner of Miami Worldcenter Associates, at an event last week celebrating the grand opening of the project's 300,000 square feet of retail and entertainment space.
And while Miami Worldcenter has 2,000 parking spots, they are concentrated in a handful of accessible garages, unlike the parking podiums that tend to dominate the first few floors at other mixed-use projects in Miami. This equates to a street level where Miami Worldcenter's buildings are all active with people.
“Our original commitment was to build $1.8 billion of development" in the early 2000s, said Motwani, who is also the managing partner of Merrimac Ventures. “And as Miami has evolved, so has Miami Worldcenter."
The project was delayed by the Great Recession and other challenges over the years. But now the developers have completed more than $2 billion of projects, including multiple residential and mixed-use towers and hotels, with another $2 billion in development and even more on the way, said Motwani.
Other companies joined the project over the years, including Los Angeles-based CIM Group in 2011. In all, Miami Worldcenter Associates has had 16 partners involved in getting the neighborhood built. Miami Worldcenter spans 27 acres, making it the second-biggest urban mixed-use development still underway in the United States — only New York’s Hudson Yards covers more ground.
Mix of tenants
Tenants at Miami Worldcenter include a mix of well-known global brands, as well as local retailers and family-friendly destinations, such as the Museum of Ice Cream and Lucky Strike Bowling.
About 100,000 square feet of pedestrian walkways weave together the shops and restaurants, all centered around World Square, the development's central plaza. The 20,000-square-foot World Square offers seating and lush landscaping for shade during hot days and includes downtown Miami’s first standalone Apple store, a 15,000-square-foot mass-timber structure with a rooftop garden at 100 NE 8th St.
The open spaces and glass towers are a far cry from the empty lots and dilapidated warehouses that used to dominate the neighborhood 20 years ago. It wasn't until 2014 that things really started to change, said Motwani, after the opening of a $1 billion tunnel to Port Miami rerouted the more than 300 trucks that had up until then passed through the area, bringing noise and smog and keeping residents and investors away from the area.
“We've got space for strollers, pedestrians, bicyclists, cars,” said Motwani, emphasizing how the $100 million in privately funded infrastructure improvements the developers built paved the way for wider sidewalks, improved sewers and drainage that made the street-lining retail possible.
Also boosting the neighborhood’s appeal is its connection to Miami’s mass transit system, said Ryan Harter, principal and head of development at CIM Group, at the event. Miami ranks 14th in the world and sixth in the nation for traffic congestion, according to transit analytics firm INRIX, with residents losing an average of 74 hours a year on Miami’s crowded roadways.
In contrast to other parts of South Florida where a car is typically the only way to get around, Miami Worldcenter is within walking distance to the Miami Metrorail and the downtown people mover, called Metromover, alongside South Florida’s Tri-Rail commuter rail service, and private intercity service Brightline that connects residents to cities as far north as Orlando.
“Today, no matter where you go, no matter where you're developing, [transit-oriented development] is the key thing, moving folks out of their cars, providing alternative opportunities for transportation is what's going to make these large cities livable today and into the future. And that's what we have here at Miami Worldcenter,” Harter said.
More to come
But while the project’s 300,000 square feet of retail space is open, the developers expect that number to grow over the next few years. “This is what currently exists. There will be more as the final phases ... get built, getting that number closer" to about 450,000 square feet, said Motwani.
While developers declined to comment on additional details about what might arrive in Worldcenter's next few phases, Falcone, managing partner of Miami Worldcenter Associates and founder and CEO of Falcone Group, said a potential major announcement is in the works.
“We do have a well-renowned brand that is committed to coming to Block C,” Falcone said, referring to one of the area’s few remaining undeveloped lots. “It'll be a mixed-use, both retail and condo and hotel, and potentially a second tower being office. So that block is planned at two towers,” he said.
In March, Falcone Group and Nichols Architects unveiled plans for a 53-story condo-hotel spanning Block C at 155 NE 10th St. with 280 hotel rooms, 351 luxury condos, 3,500 square feet of retail, 8,000 square feet of restaurants and 331 parking spaces. No partners for the project have been announced.
Flow, the multifamily venture led by former WeWork CEO Adam Neumann, is another developer involved in the action at Miami Worldcenter. Flow is building 28,000 square feet of retail space along the pedestrian promenade across the street from the World Square and opposite two of Flow's residential towers. Flow House, the company's first condominium project at 697 N. Miami Ave., is expected to be completed this year.
In addition, New York developer Witkoff is planning to build 12,500 square feet of retail with a 28,000-square-foot full-service restaurant and over 2,000 residential units at Miami Worldcenter. That’s in addition to other projects in the works in the neighborhood by fellow New York-based developers Naftali Group and Lalezarian Properties that opened the 53-story glass-clad Miami World Tower 1 at the end of 2024.
“This is now a city within a city," said Harter with CIM Group. "As I have an opportunity to go around the world [and] see lots of different development, there are very few places that are as well connected and surrounded by so many cultural and art and office opportunities as Miami Worldcenter."
For the record
Miami Worldcenter's other development partners include Moinian, Related Group, Aria Development, Comras Co., Abhi Capital, Lynd Living, Royal Palm Cos., Zom Living and E11even Partners.