Largest Development in West Palm Beach to Move Forward

The latest vision to turn 6 acres in downtown West Palm Beach into a transit village will feature a staggering 1.1 million square feet of hotel, retail and dining.
 

At $400 million, Transit Village will be the largest new development in West Palm Beach, which has seen an influx of major project applications this year.

West Palm Beach city planners and the board that runs Tri-Rail have voted unanimously to approve the project.

Located at 150 Clearwater Drive, it would connect to both a Tri-Rail passenger rail station and a county bus station.

The city approved it for 420 apartments, 300,000 square feet of office space, a 300-room hotel with a fitness center and conference/meeting rooms, 33,000 square feet of retail, 2,000 parking spaces, and a rooftop entertainment space. The largest tower will be 25 stories tall.

Michael Masanoff is president of a group of investors selected by Palm Beach County commissioners to develop the $400 million retail, dining and entertainment hub surrounding the station at the CSX Railroad track that houses Tri-Rail, Amtrak and buses.

The station is on the west side of Tamarind Avenue, just south of Banyan Street.

In 2012, commissioners agreed the investment group he heads could buy the county-owned triangle-shaped tract for $3.6 million.

The project, which will construct 1.1 million square feet of transit-oriented development surrounding the rail station on the west side of Tamarind Avenue, south of Banyan Boulevard, will include:

•    A 13-story, 300-room hotel
•    A 21-story building with 308,000 square feet of top-end “Class A” office space
•    A 25-story apartment complex hosting 420 residential units.
•    At least 38 "affordable” residential units.
•    A separate building with 12 “live-work” townhouses.
•    33,000 square feet of neighborhood and transit-themed retail.

Plans for Transit Village have been in the works for two decades.

City, county and state government officials have spent years laying groundwork for the Transit-Oriented Development, a project that aims to transform the largely unused expanse next to the city’s Tri-Rail stop as a neighborhood with offices, condos and government buildings.

While CityPlace, Clematis Street, and the planned complex at the All Aboard Florida station could be considered a single destination, it’s a dead zone in between those areas and the transit village.

The developers of Transit Village hope to break ground in the first quarter of 2017.

Atlanta's Southside to Get $300M Mixed-Use Development

A $300 million mixed-use project is planned along Interstate 75 in Henry County, a potential boon for an area south of Atlanta’s airport that’s been mostly overlooked by developers.

While plenty of mixed-use developments have cropped up north of Atlanta in the last few years, the south side of the Perimeter has yet to see significant investment.

But RCP Companies is aiming to change that. The firm recently announced their intentions to build a massive mixed-use project in McDonough.

The 160-acre development called Jodeco/Atlanta South is slated to bring $300 million of investment to Henry County.

The project would rise on what today is vacant land at I-75 and Jodeco, Chambers and Mt. Olive roads. It would include more than 500,000 square feet of retail, 600 residential units, two hotels and a 30-acre park.

Philadelphia, Pa.-based Lubert-Adler Real Estate Funds is providing financing for the project. It could become the single largest investment ever for the city of Stockbridge. It would also show the willingness of capital partners to bet on the growth of suburban commercial nodes south of Interstate 20. “There’s been nothing of this size,” said Dale Hall, administration and community services director for Stockbridge.

Hall added the project could become a major destination for south Atlanta and a catalyst for growth. “We are really excited about the potential,” he said.

The project is inspired by other dense communities that have sprung up across the country and in metro Atlanta, such as Alpharetta’s Avalon.

Those projects, to combat rising e-commerce sales, have created experience-rich shopping and dining destinations in affluent areas such as in-town Atlanta and north Fulton County.

RCP is making a bet on Henry County, which doesn’t have the same concentration of high paying jobs. Unlike Avalon developer North American Properties, the company is targeting more value-oriented retailers that reflect demand in Henry County.

Pittsburgh, Pa.-based Urban Design Associates is the master planner. The project’s first phase could break ground in early fall, with an opening set for later in 2017.

Developers hope to attract an organic grocer and a large sporting goods chain. The project would also feature a 22,000-square-foot food hall.

“We would be the only one in south Atlanta to offer that kind of product,” said Max Grelier, chief development officer for RCP Companies. “We are doing this at a scale to meet demand in the market. We feel like this is an emerging market.”

A market study from Robert Charles Lesser & Co. that said Henry County can support up to an additional 750,000 square feet of retail over the next five years. Within a five-mile radius of the project, annual retail expenditures are estimated at $755 million, or 46 percent of total household expenses.

Stockbridge is looking at a public-private partnership to help fund an outdoor amphitheater at the project, but said it was too early to discuss details. Developers are also seeking approval of the project for annexation into Stockbridge. A meeting is set for March.

Existing wetlands on the site would become an amenity for visitors with a bike path, boardwalk bridge and trails. The project would also have a direct connection to Henry Town Center, a massive retail project with big-box tenants.

Some local retail experts see the project as an exciting investment for Henry County. The area has a tremendous population density that is highly attractive to expanding retailers.

The project will draw from a large trade area that is currently drastically underserved by cutting-edge, mixed-use projects offering significant unique dining, entertainment and recreational amenities.

$4 Billion Dream: Miami to Get Largest Mall in America

The American Dream is alive and well in the minds of mega-developer Triple Five Group. The family-owned conglomerate, is preparing to build the nation’s largest shopping mall and entertainment complex on more than 200 acres of former cow pasture by Interstate 75 and Florida’s Turnpike, near Hialeah in northwestern Miami-Dade County. 

The massive $4 billion project is being backed by the developer of the Mall of America in Minnesota, presently the largest entertainment and retail complex in the United States.

Some of the components include a 16-story indoor ski slope, a 20-slide water park, a submarine ride in a man-made salt water lake with an artificial reef, a climate-controlled theme park, a 14-screen 3-D movie theater, a performing arts center, a 2,000-room hotel and much, much more.

The mall would also have 3.5 million square feet of retail space. In contrast, Aventura Mall, the third-largest mall in the U.S. and Florida’s biggest, has 2.7 million square feet of retail.

When completed, American Dream Miami encompass 6.2 million square feet, making it the largest shopping mall and entertainment complex in the United States.

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The project is expected to create some 25,000 construction jobs, 9,500 permanent jobs, and will provide a historic boost to the county’s economy.

The mega-mall would add $1.36 billion in taxable value and generate $1.6 billion in annual sales of goods, services and leases. That would generate $48.5 million in revenue for local taxing authorities, such as the county and the school board, and $93.6 million in sales tax for the state.

Triple Five Group hopes to break ground in early 2017 and complete the project in late 2019.

The Canadian-based development company is controlled by the billionaire Ghermezian family, which has ventures in real estate development, solar energy, oil drilling, vehicle manufacturing and mining.

This will not be the family’s first super-mall. In 1981, Triple Five built the 5.3 million-square-foot West Edmonton Mall in Alberta. Now the largest mall in North America, West Edmonton Mall has a giant water park, carnival rides, a casino and other forms of amusement.

In 1992 the Ghermezians had co–developed the 4.2 million-square-foot Mall of America in Minnesota, with an aquarium and the Nickelodeon Universe theme park among its features.

The Mall of America is the largest shopping mall in the United States; Triple Five recently broke ground on a $325 million project to expand it further.

Triple Five is also constructing American Dream Meadowlands in East Rutherford, New Jersey, a 4.8-million-square-foot retail and entertainment facility near MetLife Stadium.

Using $2.5 billion in private bond money and $1 billion from the state of New Jersey, Triple Five will be building hundreds of stores, dozens of restaurants, a 12-story-tall ski slope, a 200-foot drop ride, a giant aquarium and a water park.

Massive $700M River Walk Project Planned for Atlanta

ARW Group, a joint venture between Peachtree City developer Jorge Duran and the Foxfield Co., plans to build Atlanta River Walk, a $700 million mixed-use destination in Braselton, Georgia.

The 508-acre development, located just northwest of Chateau Elan off Georgia Route 211, will be centered around a man-made “river” and will resemble water-centric developments such as San Antonio River Walk and Oklahoma City Bricktown.

The project will include 265 single-family homes, 215 townhomes, 600 multifamily units, 242,000 square feet of retail space and 424,000 square feet of office space. Plans also call for a 200-room boutique hotel, 20,000-square-foot convention center, 50,000-square-foot grocery store and 60,000-square-foot theater and an outdoor amphitheater.

The centerpiece is a nearly mile-long water feature that curves through the project, along with an International Village featuring restaurants and retail. The waterfront village will feature international restaurants and high-end shopping.

A  man-made river will flow through a large park and house a "Tree of Life" – a larger-than-life LED fountain and art exhibit which serves as the focal point of the destination. The Atlanta River Walk will also include over 100 acres of green space with parks, art installations, walking trails, rivers, streams, lakes and lots of room for more fun in the future.

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“Atlanta doesn’t have a lot of water front destinations. People love being near a river, a lake or an ocean,” Duran, principal of ARW Group, said in an announcement.

“We will create a one-of-a-kind destination by constructing a man-made feature similar to a river and surrounding it with world-class mixed-use development.”

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Atlanta River Walk will be situated near Chateau Elan and Road Atlanta and straddle the county line between Hall and Jackson counties.

ARW Group created the master plan in collaboration with Wakefield Beasley Architects and engineering firm Atwell Group.

The project team also includes Road Atlanta and the city of Braselton.