MIAMI-Downtown Miami’s office market might be years away from a full recovery, but that’s not stopping the live-work-play promise from showing signs of life. Barlington Group has master leased 20,000 square feet of street-level space in Miami’s downtown location.
The 20,000 square feet is divided into six spaces and will be occupied by restaurants, bars and lounges, including Kana Cuban Coffee, Avenue D-Jazz & Blues Lounge, and Kork Wine & Spirits, by June 2011. These tenants will join a growing roster of restaurant and retail brands in the CBD.
“For the first time in Miami’s history, the Central Business District is flourishing as an attractive urban community, sought after by residents and retailers alike,” says Alyce Robertson, executive director of the Miami Downtown Development Authority. “In a time when most markets are contracting, downtown’s neighborhoods continue to stand out as the silver lining for recovery.”
Indeed, since 2009, 26 restaurants and shops (net) have opened in the CBD, driving both nighttime and weekend foot traffic to an area that was once like dark and quiet after business hours. In the past six months, Miami’s CBD has seen the world’s first JW Marriot Marquis, Zuma, and db Bistro Moderne come to Downtown Miami.
Of course, the retail follows the residential boom. According to the Miami Downtown Development Authority’s Residential & Demographic Profile Study, over the past decade the number of people living in Downtown has jumped by 81%—from 39,132 in 2000 to more than 70,000 today. Another 10,000 people are expected to move in by 2014.
Robertson says the CBD is not the only downtown neighborhood experiencing resurgence. In the past two years, Downtown Miami welcomed 76 new net businesses to the area. Since 2005, close to 200 new net businesses have opened and another 18 businesses are already planned for 2011. And a recent Integra Realty Resources survey of the 50 largest markets in the U.S. found that Downtown Miami’s retail vacancy rate of 5.06% is among the five lowest in the nation.
The Barlington Group could not be reached for comment. Barlington was founded by William Fuller and Martin Pinilla in 2004 to focus on urban Miami projects. The company has since acquired, developed and sold residential and commercial projects exceeding $50 million value.
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