Miami's $4 Billion Dream: Build the 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.

Click to enlarge

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.

Georgia Bulldogs Prepare for $63 Million Stadium Renovation

Another long-awaited and long-sought facility project at the University of Georgia is finally coming to fruition. And it’s going to be expensive.

Sanford Stadium in Athens, home of the Georgia Bulldogs, is one of college football’s most iconic venues. But with a large portion of the stadium dating back nearly 90 years, games are accompanied by some logistical challenges.

The UGA athletic board approved an overhaul to the west end of Sanford Stadium that the university said would “not exceed 63 million.”

The board approved a plan to raise $53 million from private funds, which the rest coming from the athletic association’s reserves.

The project will see Georgia’s football locker rooms, currently on the east end, be rebuilt on the west end, with a recruiting area built adjacent to it.

A new plaza will be built that will end up adjacent to the current bridge, which overlooks the west side of the stadium. There will be a recruiting pavilion of about 500 seats, measuring 10,575 square feet, on top of the student section.

UGA president Jere Morehead told the board that between this project and the indoor facility that the football team will be at “a competitive advantage,” and thus looked forward to more success in the future.

The construction process will take 17 months, which means construction will be happening during the 2017 football season. But McGarity said he was “comfortable” that they would be able to manage that. The goal would be for it to be completed the summer of 2018, well before the start of that season.

Officials believe the facility will allow UGA to be competitive with other top teams when it comes to recruiting

The spruced-up stadium isn’t the only thing the Dawgs are doing to stay competitive.

Since Coach Mark Richt got the boot at the end of the 2015 season, the team has been on an upgrade spree.

Last year, the university constructed a $30-million indoor practice facility for the football team, complete with a full-sized football field.

A few other details about Sanford Stadium:

• The number of student seats is not expected to change, but some may be relocated.

• The current scoreboard will move about 30 feet back toward the bridge.

• The visiting locker rooms, still on the west end, will remain the same.

• The Dawg Walk into the stadium will stay the same, only now players won’t have to wrap up the walk by trapsing across the stadium field to the locker rooms on the east end.

The UGA Athletic Association received $36 million in donations from a total of 475 donors through the Magill Society, the fund-raising arm of the Georgia Bulldog Club.

Giant Marina Village Project Planned for West Palm Beach

The Related Group is preparing for construction of the first phase of its massive Marina Village complex along the Intracoastal Waterway in West Palm Beach.

The entire Marina Village project is planned for the 19-acre site that includes the Rybovich boat yard.

The city has approved construction of six apartment towers with a combined 1,000 units, 61,500 square feet of office space, 15,000 square feet of restaurants along the water, and 20,000 square feet of retail as well as a public promenade on the east side of North Flagler Drive, from 38th to 42nd Street.

Miami-based Related Group affiliate TRG North Flagler Venture is preparing for construction of the first apartment tower there.

The 25-story residential tower will have 132 units and will be the first piece to come out of the ground. The Related Group is partnering with Rybovich owner Huizenga Holdings on the development.

Located on the 5.1-acre site at 4400 and 4416 North Flagler Drive just north of Rybovich, the building will have a 3,025-square-foot beach club along the water with sand brought in. Miami-based architecture firm Arquitectonica designed the project.

The Marina Village project was approved by the city in 2014, although a lawsuit from a neighbor opposed to the project held it up before that case was resolved in March 2015.

The property was acquired for $9.4 million in 2005 and the Related Group held onto it through the recession.

Marina Village is part of a development boom on West Palm Beach’s North Flagler corridor.

Palm Beach billionaire Jeff Greene is crafting plans for 2,300 residential units and a high-end grocery store on North Flagler Drive about 11 blocks south of Rybovich.

42-Story Luxury Hotel/Condo Tower Planned In Midtown Atlanta

Developer Trillist and Los Angeles-based lifestyle hospitality company SBE are preparing to build SLS Atlanta Hotel & Residences, a new 42-story structure that would stand at 1122 Crescent Avenue in Midtown.

The development will consist of 213 hotel rooms and 56 condominiums (not apartments, as has been the case with most recent Midtown residential construction).

Condo units will range between 1,600 square feet and 4,000 square feet, and contain a mix of two-, three- and four-bedroom units.

SLS Atlanta marks the 14th property in the growing line-up of SLS Hotel & Residences, and by 2019, the brand is expected to boast over 3,900 hotel rooms and 1,600 residences worldwide.

The first launch of this new concept will be SLS Brickell Hotel & Residences set to debut in June 2016 in Miami, followed by projects in The Bahamas, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., and Argentina.

“This project will be the achievement of a shared vision to create a personal and intimate experience that incorporates leading edge design with outstanding services that reflect the best of the cultural life of Atlanta,” added Scott Leventhal, co-founder, president & CEO of Thrillist.

“Midtown Atlanta is already home to arts, culture, commerce and superior infrastructure to any other region in the metropolitan Atlanta area, and the addition of this premier mixed-use development will further shine the spotlight on Midtown as an internationally recognized destination.

SLS Atlanta is located in the center of the arts and cultural district of Atlanta, which includes the Woodruff Arts Center and High Museum of Art, the proposed new home of the Atlanta Symphony. The property is also one block from Midtown Mile, an approximately one mile stretch of Peachtree Street.

SLS Atlanta Hotel & Residences will break ground this Spring, with completion anticipated by early 2019.