The Miami Museum of Science has a different view. The board believes Museum Park’s development will yields a short-term impact in the form of economic development in the urban core and much-needed job growth.

Indeed, the construction of Museum Park is expected to direct $20 million to local businesses, create more than 1,700 jobs, including 100 new museum jobs, generate hundreds of millions of dollars in new tax revenue, and attract up to 600,000 visitors to downtown Miami annually, according to a report from the City of Miami’s Museum Park Community Benefits Committee. The park is expected to spur a $2 billion economic impact in its first decade.

“Short-term, it’s going to hopefully give a surge to apartment buildings,” Aaron Podhurst, chairman of Miami Art Museum’s board of trustees, tells GlobeSt.com. “There are large apartment buildings on the west side of Biscayne Boulevard. This is going to put those units in the epicenter of Downtown Miami, making them very desirable.”

Of course, that could take years. In the meantime, Downtown Miami officials are working to revitalize the urban core. The Brickell corridor has seen some traction from foreign investors in recent months. But the return of a prosperous waterfront may have to wait until the museums are complete.

“When Museum Park is complete, it will take an areas that’s kind of a dead zone and make it come alive, especially for those residential properties directly across from the park,” Alyce Robertson, executive director of the Miami Downtown Development Authority, tells GlobeSt.com. “The sooner they can start building one or both of those museums, the more direct the impact will be on our recovery.”