Facebook’s New HQ Has A Massive 9-Acre Garden On The Roof

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When Facebook approached famed Canadian-American architect Frank Gehry to design their new headquarters in Menlo Park, California, they asked for a simple building without a heavy design.

And while the building might look pretty conventional from down below, 70-feet up on the roof is something light on the environment and the spirits: a gigantic 9-acre garden.

The building, called MPK 20, is topped by a parkland with verdant green fields of grass, over 400 trees, and a lot of trails. “It’s a half mile loop,” says Lori Goler, head of human resources and recruiting. “It gives space to think.”

Like any new garden, the plants here have yet to fill out. But in coming years we can expect to see a lush green environment sitting atop the 430,000 square foot open-plan building.

From top to bottom, this place is designed to encourage collaboration and the free exchange of ideas. It sounds like a perfect fit for Silicon Valley.

From below, the building is decidedly understated. (Matt Harnack/Facebook)

From below, the building is decidedly understated.
(Matt Harnack/Facebook)

But up above the entire 9-acre roof is criss-crossed with trails and unique areas to get some fresh air. (Gehry Partners)

But up above the entire 9-acre roof is criss-crossed with trails and unique areas to get some fresh air. (Gehry Partners)

On top you almost wouldn’t know you were 70-feet in the air. (WIRED)

On top you almost wouldn’t know you were 70-feet in the air.
(WIRED)

 

Visual News

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A Peek At Downtown Miami’s Future Skyline

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Miami’s Downtown Development Authority has released a video that provides a glimpse of what the skyline will look like when the current crop of construction projects have been completed.

The video helps to visualize the massing of Miami’s evolving skyline by showing buildings that are both proposed and under construction. Buildings where construction is underway are represented in blue, while planned and proposed towers are represented in green and purple, respectively.

It doesn’t include every project, and isn’t exact about height. Fast-rising Edgewater is mostly ignored. It also doesn’t show detailed renderings, as Brickell Magazine did last year.

Below is the Miami DDA video rendering:

 

 

Source: The Next Miami

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HEAT, Broward County Schools ‘Seeing Green’

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For the second consecutive year, the Miami HEAT has challenged Broward County Public Schools (BCPS) to find innovative ways to reduce energy consumption at each campus.

Through the greening initiative titled “How Low Can You Go?” the team is enticing the schools to raise environmental awareness of CO2 emissions and educate the facilities about potential financial savings through responsible energy consumption. As an industry leader in greening efforts, the HEAT will reward the winning school with on-court recognition during Sunday’s Detroit Pistons versus HEAT game. Second and Third Place schools will also receive honorable mentions during the game.

Out of the 82 BCPS that registered for the “How Low Can You Go?” challenge, 63 schools reduced their kilowatt consumption by a total of 1,501,957 kilowatt hours resulting in a savings of $143,587. The “How Low Can You Go?” challenge was spearheaded by BCPS physical education teacher, Linda Gancitano. Gancitano was recently named a White House Climate Education on Literacy “Champion of Change” for enhancing climate education at Driftwood Middle School Academy of Health and Wellness and throughout the BCPS district.

This collaboration is part of NBA Green Week 2015, which takes place from March 22nd through March 29thand leverages the combined weight of the league, teams, players and partners to generate awareness and raise funds in support of environmental protect

The HEAT and AmericanAirlines Arena continue to blaze a trail for best greening practices and industry firsts. In November 2014, the Arena was awarded LEED Gold Recertification by the U.S. Green Building Council—the first sports and entertainment arena in the world to receive the prestigious honor. AmericanAirlines Arena’s green features include solar reflective roofing materials, reduced energy consumption, water efficient landscaping as well as paper and plastic bottle recycling among others.

In November 2015, AmericanAirlines Arena will unveil an elegant, energy efficient solar pavilion as part of a multi-year clean energy partnership with NRG. The solar pavilion will transform the Arena’s East Plaza, an uncovered and under-utilized outdoor space, bringing the in-arena experience outside where the views of Biscayne Bay and the Port of Miami are absolutely stunning.

Other green initiatives in which the HEAT has participated include HEAT Beach Sweep, an annual effort to help preserve South Florida’s environment and Re-HEAT, where unused food from all Miami HEAT home games is redistributed to local homeless assistance programs. HEAT Beach Sweep, now in its sixth year, is presented by PricewaterhouseCoopers and Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Miami and Re-HEAT, in its seventh season, has donated more than 33,000 pounds of food to the Miami Rescue Mission and the Chapman Partnership with the assistance of presenting partner, C1 Bank and supporting partner, Levy Cares.

 

Source: NBA.com

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Miami Beach Sea Level Rise Conference Targets Future Developments

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It’s up to developers and city officials to protect projects in Miami Beach from the threat of global sea level rise, architect Reinaldo Borges warned an audience gathered inside a conference room at the W South Beach on Thursday.

“Developers need to change their perspective,” Borges said. “They go in with a short-term investment mentality. That mindset has to change.”

Business leaders discuss sea level rise at the Miami Beach Community Resiliency Summit

Business leaders discuss sea level rise at the Miami Beach Community Resiliency Summit

Borges, a principal of Borges & Associates Architects, lamented that hotel projects his firm worked on like the Royal Palm Miami Beach and the Bentley Beach Hotel will be negatively impacted by sea level rise. Before new projects break ground, Borges suggested city officials find ways to provide developers with incentives if they build structures at a higher elevation.

The Miami-based architect was part of a panel of business community leaders at the Miami Beach Community Resiliency Summit Friday morning. Other speakers such as Wendy Kallergis, president and CEO of the Greater Miami and the Beaches Hotel Association, and Gabriole Van Bryce, a member of the association’s sustainable hospitality council, talked about successful efforts to convince builders and owners to make their properties greener.

“We have really helped hotels reduce the impact of climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions,” Van Bryce said. “We want to further reduce the effects of greenhouse emissions by promoting a cool roof initiative to place local gardens on rooftops.”

Al Roker, host and weatherman for NBC’s “Today Show,” kicked off the summit by providing attendees with a few cold hard facts about climate change. “In the next 50 years, Miami’s high tide will be five feet higher,” Roker said. “At the city’s 100th anniversary concert last night, I told the crowd, ‘I hope you’re enjoying this now because where you are standing now will be underwater one day.’”  The popular morning show personality also said the mainstream media made a mistake by coining the term “global warming,” instead of using “climate change.”

Following his presentation, Roker told The Real Deal that developers, city officials, and residents have to work together to address the real threat of climate change. “Everybody should be concerned,” Roker said. “Are buildings ready? Is the infrastructure ready? Those are all real concerns condo owners, private property owners, businesses and everybody should be concerned about.”

 

Source: The Real Deal

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Kicking Off A New Brand, Earthy South Beach Hotel Opens

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If the 11,000-plant “living green wall” or hangers fashioned from recycled paper don’t give it away, the ceilings, furniture and doorways made of reclaimed wood will: 1 Hotel South Beach is serious about its eco-friendly mission.

“Hotels can do better with their impact on the earth,” said Michael Laas, corporate director of impact for SH Group, the hotel brand management company for Starwood Capital Group.

The environmentally-focused 1 Hotel South Beach features a green wall at its main entrance. The 1 Hotel South Beach opens on Wednesday after a massive re-working of the former Gansevoort. NICK SWYTER / MIAMI HERALD STAFF

The environmentally-focused 1 Hotel South Beach features a green wall at its main entrance. The 1 Hotel South Beach opens on Wednesday after a massive re-working of the former Gansevoort. NICK SWYTER / MIAMI HERALD STAFF

In a nod to its nature-centric philosophy, the hotel will celebrate its opening Wednesday with a sage-burning ritual, the unveiling of a coral sculpture and a release of butterflies by Plant the Future, a Wynwood company whose terrariums are found throughout the property. The very first guests checked in Tuesday.

Starwood Capital, an investment firm that is not affiliated with Starwood Hotels & Resorts, partnered with LeFrak, a privately held group of real estate companies, for the massive overhaul of the former Gansevoort. The hotel was also operated as the Perry before closing for renovations in spring 2013. Including the $230 million purchase price in early 2012, the developers have invested about $500 million in the 426-room, 155-residence property.

“Everything was basically, for all intents and purposes, it was gutted and we started over,” said Richard LeFrak, president of LeFrak. He said windows, terraces, air-conditioning systems, elevators, pools, ballrooms, guest rooms, bathrooms and more were redone. “There’s really nothing that resembles what was there,” LeFrak said. “Except it’s still on Collins Avenue.”

The hotel’s website gives the address as 2341 Collins Ave., but the giant property fills the block between 23rd and 24th streets. It includes four pools, including one on the roof; a signature restaurant called Beachcraft, lobby bar and poolside restaurant from celebrity chef Tom Colicchio; another restaurant, STK Miami; a ballroom; and meeting space. Rates start at $699 a night for entry-level rooms with king-sized beds.

Ceilings in the lobby are made of wood reclaimed from water towers in Alaska, while some of the furniture was crafted with fallen trees from South American rainforests. On guest room floors, hallways are accented with wood from trees that were taken down by mountain pine beetles.

“It’s all about telling different stories,” Laas said. But those back stories will have to be found online, not in a glossy brochure or coffee table book. “We’re paper smart, so we don’t have printed material in the rooms,” Laas said. Instead, in rooms that average more than 700 square feet, guests will find a tap with filtered water rather than plastic bottles, low-flow water fixtures and a mini chalkboard on the bedside table to replace a pen and pad.

Laas said the hotel will earn silver certification from the Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design, or LEED, green building program.

Hotel managing director Philip Dailey said he expects the brand’s sensibilities to resonate with modern hotel guests. “Real things are back,” he said. “We’re a very real, very natural product.”

Miami Beach is the first outing for the 1 Hotel brand; a Central Park location is expected to open in early July, followed by a site in Brooklyn Bridge Park at the end of this year or early next, said SH Group president Scott Rohm.

Dailey said Miami Beach, with its international appeal and superheated status, is a perfect place to launch the brand. “We know that there’s certainly a lot of competition here,” he said. “I think we have something that’s really special.”

The reputation of Starwood Capital and SH Group chairman and CEO Barry Sternlicht — who founded Starwood Hotels & Resorts in 1995 and created W Hotels — has also helped draw attention, Dailey said.

Gregory Rumpel, managing director of Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels in Miami, said he believes the hotel will be especially attractive to meeting planners and families drawn by its large rooms, some of which boast two king beds. JLL took the property through foreclosure in its previous iteration, sold the hotel to the current owners and remains “actively involved,” though Rumpel would not say in what capacity.

Rumpel said the 1 Hotel South Beach joins a growing list of high-profile new offerings on the beach, including the Thompson Miami Beach and Miami Beach Edition. “We’ve got this new cast of characters,” he said. “The picture just got broader, the picture just got more interesting and exciting.”

 

Source: Miami Herald

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The Evolution Of The Miami River District

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Miami’s Health District is seeing more activity.

A famed chef is launching a new concept in the University of Miami’s Life Science & Technology Park, which made headlines when its developer, Wexford Science & Technology, bet on the neighborhood a few years ago. Miami Health District’s residential and retail projects are rising.

Where does River Landing Shops and Residents fit in? GlobeSt.com caught up with Andrew Hellinger, CEO of River Landing Development, to find out what role his project will play in the evolution of the nascent Miami River District in part two of this exclusive interview. You can still read part one: Is Miami’s Health District Next Big Thing?

GlobeSt.com: What role will River Landing play in the evolution of the nascent Miami River District?

Hellinger: The development will anchor the river district to the west allowing consumers, visitors and residents to enjoy life on the Miami River. River Landing’s waterfront restaurants will add to the growing roster of trendy restaurants opening and thriving in the Miami River District, including American Social, London’s Duck & Waffle, Sushi Samba, Modern Garden, The River Seafood & Oyster Bar, Seaspice, Garcia’s and Casablanca.

ADD Inc. conceived River Landing’s retail element as a series of stacked gift boxes to create a dynamic façade that complements the river while being accessible to pedestrians. Our riverwalk is designed as a linear waterfront park. The continuous linear, but meandering walking park, extends the length of the development and connects our property to the other waterfront properties in the river district.

GlobeSt.com: What kind of retail mix do you envision for River Landing? 

Hellinger: River Landing will be home to seven to eight national anchor tenants ranging from 20,000 square feet to 55,000 square feet as well as eight to 10 national and regional retailers. Specifically, River Landing will contain 315,000 square feet of national retailers, 86,000 square feet of regional and local retailers and 29,000 square feet of restaurants on its five levels.

The roster of tenants who will call River Landing home is a major supermarket, clothing retailers for men women and children, shoe stores, banks, athletic goods, electronics/ wireless providers, cinemas, entertainment options as well as casual and luxury restaurants.

 

Source: GlobeSt

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‘Green Bonds’ For A Parking Garage?

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A state agency in Massachusetts recently sold “green bonds,” a type of debt designed to fund environmentally-friendly projects.

But the money raised from the sale won’t go to a new park, more bike lanes or a renewable energy facility. Instead, the Massachusetts State College Building Authority plans to use some of the funds to build a 725-space parking garage at Salem State University near Boston.

A parking garage at Salem State University near Boston, financed by so-called green bonds issued by a Massachusetts state agency, would feature car-charging stations, such as this one in Atlanta. Photo: Chris Aluka Berry for The Wall Street Journal

A parking garage at Salem State University near Boston, financed by so-called green bonds issued by a Massachusetts state agency, would feature car-charging stations, such as this one in Atlanta. Photo: Chris Aluka Berry for The Wall Street Journal

The garage will have electric-car charging stations and spots for carpoolers, and officials said it would cut down on pollution from students who now circle the campus in their cars, looking for spots. But some analysts and environmental advocates said the garage still encourages people to drive, a major contributor to greenhouse-gas emissions.

The debate over the garage underscores the lack of clear rules for determining what projects help the environment. Investors said the green-bond market allows companies and governments to tap into large pools of money for environmental initiatives. But some said “greenwashing,” the financing of projects whose environmental impacts are at best unclear, could discredit the market and make buyers wary.

One concern is that there is no mandatory legal framework to decide what projects are environmentally friendly. That leaves issuers and banks to decide. Wall Street firms last year adopted voluntary green-bond guidelines, but critics said they aren’t sufficiently stringent.

“I really don’t trust developers and bond issuers to police themselves, to make sure what they say is green is really green,” said Karen Orenstein, a senior analyst at environmental group Friends of the Earth U.S. When asked about using green bonds to pay for a parking garage, Ms. Orenstein said: “That’s why you need standards.”

The Massachusetts agency generally follows the banks’ green-bond guidelines. Edward Adelman, the executive director, said the garage has environmental positives.

To be open by early 2016, it will free up land for other new school buildings, reducing sprawl and making the rest of the campus more pedestrian friendly, he said. It is also being designed to receive a certification from the Green Parking Council, according to the bond prospectus.

The issue is becoming more important as the market expands. Green-bond sales have more than tripled from a year ago in each of the past two years, with $53.2 billion outstanding at the end of 2014, according to the Climate Bonds Initiative, a nonprofit group in London.

Big asset managers such as BlackRock Inc., Vanguard Group and TIAA-CREF have purchased green bonds. Calvert Investments, a $13 billion asset manager, has raised $33 million for a mutual fund that focuses on green bonds, drawing on what portfolio manager Matthew Duch calls investors’ increasing “social consciousness about the environment.”

The voluntary guidelines, called the “green-bond principles,” suggest green bonds can pay for renewable energy, clean transportation and energy efficiency projects. Nothing, however, is explicitly ruled out.

GreenBondsChartThe guidelines are expected to be updated this month, and many investors are generally supportive. Still, one group of buyers, including BlackRock and Pacific Investment Management Co., said recently that the guidelines “can benefit from further definition and structure.”

“Personally, I do think the principles could use an update and provide a little bit more rigor,” said Rob Fernandez, a credit analyst at Breckinridge Capital Advisors, which buys green bonds.

Some investors said having inflexible rules would be counterproductive, discouraging issuers from selling green bonds and making it more difficult to pay for environmentally friendly projects. But they said it is important that issuers are transparent about how the money is used.

Environmentally dubious deals are rare, and one questionable bond shouldn’t disrupt the market, investors said. But “if there were multiple events in a short period of time, and investors just get uncomfortable, that would be a different story,” said Manuel Lewin, head of responsible investment for Zurich Insurance Group, a green-bond buyer.

At Salem State, where many people commute, students said the need for parking is real.

“I feel like I’m in a battle with all these people for spots,” said Tessa Haynes, a junior. “It’s a little episode of ‘The Hunger Games,’ ” a movie about a fight to the death among teens.

The parking garage isn’t the only project to come under scrutiny. Environmental groups, including Friends of the Earth U.S. and International Rivers, have raised concerns that proceeds from a green bond sold by French power company GDF Suez SA could help support a hydropower plant in Brazil. The groups said the plant could imperil fish species and has increased deforestation.

‘I really don’t trust developers and bond issuers to police themselves, to make sure what they say is green is really green.’

—Karen Orenstein, senior analyst at Friends of the Earth

GDF Suez said “a great effort is being undertaken to understand and to preserve biodiversity.” The company said it is deciding which projects will benefit from a €2.5 billion ($2.66 billion) green bond it sold last year and will disclose its decision in the coming weeks.

Mr. Adelman, driving around the Salem State campus, pointed out cars parked on nearby side streets with university parking stickers. He said the new garage isn’t encouraging people to drive more but is serving existing students who must park off campus. “Nobody objects to building a parking garage,” said Mr. Adelman, who drives a hybrid car himself. “The reason it’s questioned is because of the discussion about the green bond.”

 

Source: Wall Street Journal

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Once-Sleepy Omni Neighborhood Comes To Life

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There’s a rebirth underway in Miami’s Omni neighborhood, and it’s being fueled not by condo open houses but by craft fairs, film nights, group yoga and live art.

A pair of real estate developers — hoping to sell condos — have drummed up these events to support their vision of an Arts and Entertainment District. Playing to their audience of the young and hip, the developers branded their concept A+E, and their free parties all feature millennial-friendly brands like Whole Foods and Pabst Blue Ribbon.

“Concept isn’t enough. You need people to execute. That’s where we have no added value,” said Nir Shoshani, who runs NR Investments with partner Ron Gottesmann. “We’re not cool, we’re not young, so I needed to find the right people.”

One of those people is Isabella Acker, former marketing director of mega concert promoter Live Nation. Shoshani and Gottesman have tasked her with finding emerging local musicians and bringing in popular acts to perform at A+E events.

The Omni, or A+E, neighborhood is centrally positioned between three highways and near the Metromover, connects to downtown, Wynwood and Edgewater, and is only a short drive from South Beach.

Seeing opportunity in the area, NR Investments bought the distressed Filling Station Lofts at 1657 N. Miami Ave. three years ago and began renting its 81 units at the end of 2013. They also have a 513-unit, 37-story tower called Canvas at 1630 NE First Ave. with pre-construction prices going for about $480 a square foot. “We said, ‘Let’s use the area in order to have people get to know it,” Shoshani said, standing on a lot he and Gottesman own at 14th Street and North Miami Avenue.

It’s the site of a monthly “14th Festival” that A+E started hosting in November, where vendors sell jars of raw local honey, bunches of heirloom tomatoes and pieces of handmade jewelry. Singers belt out songs on a small stage, and visitors grip cans of cold PBR.

Still, the developers realize they have a long way to go to make the sparsely populated Omni area feel cutting-edge, safe and attractive as an Arts and Entertainment district. “It’s very important to see how centralized we are on the one hand,” Shoshani said. “And on the other, how blighted and how there’s nothing here.”

A+E’s growing number of monthly events happen at the Filling Station Lofts, the Canvas space or the grassy lot at 14th and North Miami Avenue.

The Miami International Film Festival offers free screenings of foreign films during a series called Movies Under the Stars, projected monthly onto a screen at the Canvas lot. “Café de Flore,” a film from the director of “Dallas Buyers Club,” played last month to a packed audience who happily sat on lawn chairs and munched on free popcorn.

Yoga sessions and social media workshops for small businesses are also part of A+E’s programs. New events like “art battles” between local street artists are slated for this month.

At “Rooftop Unplugged,” an acoustic music series that showcases Acker’s picks of local musicians, indie-funk groups like The Robby Hunter Band and Elastic Bond perform poolside atop the Filling Station Lofts’ roof.

“Bonfire Under the Moonlight” gives people a chance to toast s’mores in the Canvas lot while listening to sets from groups like Suenalo and Grammy-nominated, Afro-Cuban funk band PALO! Small lines form around three food trucks while a larger line waits for mixed drinks and beer.

“It’s got life,” Steve Roitstein, PALO!’s keyboard player and a founding member, said of the A+E concept. While touring country, he said, he noticed that other cities “don’t have what Miami does.” “We have such an incredible music scene, arts scene, theater… so what Arts and Entertainment is doing is shining a light on what’s already here,” Roitstein said. “We need everybody to come out and take part, because without the incredible crowd, we couldn’t do this. We need the energy of the crowd.”

 

Source: Miami Herald

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Report Says Incentives Make Going Green Easier For Commercial Landlords

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Providing better incentives and more financing options are among the ways to encourage commercial building owners to invest in green technology in Houston, a report concludes.

The recent report unveiled at Rice University includes an action plan with recommendations that could apply to a range of buildings, from the smallest strip centers to the tallest towers. The report follows a three-day workshop, the Houston Energy Efficiency in Buildings Laboratory, that brought business and city leaders together in October to discuss how to save energy in the commercial sector by at least 30 percent. The group said this saving would contribute to more than $500 million in the local economy, enough to power 10 midsize power plants.

Houston was one of the first cities in the world targeted for this effort, sponsored by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development and the United States Business Council for Sustainable Development. Previous cities were San Francisco, Shanghai, Mumbai and Warsaw.

William Sisson, co-chair of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, said some of the same roadblocks found in Houston exist in other cities that have been part of this effort. He said local support is key. “In my experience, the business community is definitely out in front and looking for ways to save cost, enhance the bottom line and make their assets more attractive,” Sisson said. He said the challenges are to communicate to individuals the larger benefit of such investing, ensuring there is adequate capital available for them to do so and making sure that public policy keeps up with what the market is doing.

Good For Society

A condenser pump at 2 Houston Center helps save energy. A report calls for more financing options for green energy. Photo: Gary Fountain, Freelance

A condenser pump at 2 Houston Center helps save energy. A report calls for more financing options for green energy. Photo: Gary Fountain, Freelance

The final report essentially argues that it makes business sense to invest in energy-efficient technologies. It also appeals to the public sector, saying that reduced air pollution and improved public health will be a societal good. It focuses primarily on lower-tier building owners who have been more reluctant to invest. Action-plan items include raising awareness of the benefits of energy efficiency in buildings, targeting communications and providing case studies to building owners.

The plan includes financing solutions, such as energy service agreements that reward companies for reducing energy usage, and calls for creating more transparency in collecting energy data on buildings because owners may not have access to their tenants’ energy output. Strategies recommended by the panel include raising awareness through city initiatives and publicizing how much money companies can save through more efficient operations.

Already in Houston, the top tier, or Class A, office buildings compete for LEED certifications and energy-efficient building has become standard. Yet the lower-tier class B and C owners and tenants are less aware of the role and importance of energy efficiency. Those owners also do not have the scale or structure to pursue energy efficiency investments. The report concluded that incentives offered for green building do not do enough for the smaller owners and operators.

Mayor’s Goals

The report said that while Houston has progressive building codes, their reach and enforcement are limited, even as green building has become a focus for Mayor Annise Parker. She announced goals to reduce greenhouse gas emission by80 percent from 2005 levels by 2050. Emissions already have fallen by 32 percent since 2007. The city has also launched the largest LEED-streetlight conversion in the country. The report says Houston is ranked fifth nationally for the number of LEED-certified projects, with 369.

Gavin Dillingham, research scientist with the Houston Advanced Resource Center, which will lead the effort to create awareness and promote new policies in the area, said he hopes to show business owners why energy-efficient practices are good for business and show the government that these practices have societal benefits. “We need to be ahead of the curve and operate as efficiently as possible,” Dillingham said. “There is definitely an opportunity to improve.”

 

Source: Houston Chronicle

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Get Ready, Shoppers: Miami’s New Mall Will Be Nation’s Biggest

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At a time when mall shopping is dwindling, there’s a plan afoot to build what would become the country’s largest shopping center, complete with a ski slope, sea lions and Legoland.

Though centered around a mall, the proposed American Dream Miami would also have a Ferris wheel, roller coaster, and 500-foot-tall observation tower. Most of it would be enclosed by a dome shown here in the artist’s rendering of the theme park. Proposed for Northwest Miami-Dade County, the project comes from the developer behind Minnesota’s Mall of America

Though centered around a mall, the proposed American Dream Miami would also have a Ferris wheel, roller coaster, and 500-foot-tall observation tower. Most of it would be enclosed by a dome shown here in the artist’s rendering of the theme park. Proposed for Northwest Miami-Dade County, the project comes from the developer behind Minnesota’s Mall of America

The $4 billion plan, as detailed by the Miami Herald, would employ 25,000 people in its 200-acre complex, which is slated to be located in Miami’s suburbs. That would make it Miami-Dade’s largest private-sector payroll, the publication noted.

The bold plan comes at a tricky time for malls, as shoppers are snubbing them in favor of Internet shopping, or simply heading to Main Street. Construction on new enclosed malls has ground to a standstill, with only one, Florida’s University Park, opening in the past decade. Given the shift in consumer trends, it may seem risky to plan such a huge undertaking, but the developer is betting that the sheer size and variety of attractions will get people hooked.

The complex is slated to offer stores and a range of attractions, such as a skating rink, a waterpark and a theme park including a roller coaster and Ferris wheel. The developer, Triple Five, is also the company behind Mall of America, which has about 4.2 million square feet and offers 520 stores and 50 restaurants. While the developer didn’t disclose the square footage of the planned Miami mall, it told the publication that the new mall will be larger than Mall of America.

“It is our intent that this project — American Dream Miami — will exceed our other world famous projects in all respects,” Triple Five said in a statement. Triple Five didn’t immediately return a request for comment.

Plans for a water park at the American Dream Miami entertainment complex include 20 different “slides and water treatments,” and the world’s tallest indoor bungee tower. Proposed for Northwest Miami-Dade, the complex would be the largest mall in the United States. Proposal by developer Triple Five

Plans for a water park at the American Dream Miami entertainment complex include 20 different “slides and water treatments,” and the world’s tallest indoor bungee tower. Proposed for Northwest Miami-Dade, the complex would be the largest mall in the United States. Proposal by developer Triple Five

The outsized mall comes at time when enclosed malls are shutting down, becoming ghostly relics of a bygone retail era. There’s even a site called DeadMalls.com that records the locations of razed or shuttered malls, such as downtown Rochester, New York’s Midtown Mall, which opened in 1963 as the first urban indoor mall in America. After struggling to keep tenants, the mall was closed in 2008 and demolished in 2010.

The decline of the mall has been precipitous enough that an executive with one of the largest privately held real-estate companies last year projected that the traditional mall could be dead in a decade.

But American Dream Miami isn’t aiming to be an ordinary enclosed mall. The glass-covered structure would also include luxury hotels, miniature golf, and a ski slope with 800 feet of artificial snow.

While the mall will bring more jobs to Florida, many of those will be in the types of low-paying occupations that are common in the state, such as store clerks and waitstaff. Median household income in Florida stands at about $47,000, below the U.S. median of $53,000, according to the Census.

Still, Mall of America may be breaking the mold when it comes to the twilight of the American mall. Triple Five is currently working on a $325 million expansion of Mall of America, adding a food hall and underground valet parking. The investment is aimed at pulling in 60 million annual visitors, up from 42 million currently.

 

Source: Miami Herald

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