Triple Five Secures Key Approvals for ‘American Dream Miami’

MIAMI—Triple Five Group won key zoning and land use approvals from the Miami-Dade County Commission on Thursday for its planned $4-billion American Dream Miami project.

While there are still regulatory hurdles still to overcome, the overwhelming approvals of the land use and zone change applications by the county commission are significant victories nonetheless for the more than 5-million square-foot project.

The mega retail, entertainment center/theme park will be the largest shopping mall in the United States at full build-out.

Besides the retail and dining space, the project calls for 3.5 million square feet of retail space and 1.5 million square feet of entertainment space. American Dream Miami is proposed to add more than 2,000 hotel rooms to the Greater Miami hotel market.

American Dream Miami is to be built on a 175-acre tract of land at the intersection of Interstate 75, Florida Turnpike’s Extension and Miami Gardens Drive.

Among some of the planned features include a multi-screen theater complex, a live performing arts center, art deco village, indoor/outdoor theme park, indoor ski park, an aquarium, indoor skating park, indoor water park and a submarine lake.

Opponents of the project had charged that the project site was too close to the Everglades and also cited traffic concerns. American Dream Miami is expected to create 14,000 jobs once operational. Triple Five expects American Dream Miami to attract 30 million visitors a year.

Miguel Diaz de la Portilla, an attorney with Saul Ewing Arnstein & Lehr who represents American Dream Miami, in a prepared statement said of the county commission votes, “The American Dream Miami team is grateful for the hard work of all the state, regional and local planners, traffic engineers, and staff who worked countless hours for nearly four years to make sure our application met all the conditions required to protect the public’s interest. It was their diligent work that ultimately allowed us to submit a successful application and secure today’s positive outcome.”

He continued, “American Dream Miami will not only create jobs and attract investment to our community, but it will also contribute to the county nearly $60 million in impact fees, a transit center, new buses for Miami-Dade and Broward, and $210 million for roads and interchange improvements to accommodate traffic. We look forward to the next step of this comprehensive application process and building an entertainment destination with attractions for families to enjoy and our community to be proud of.”

Miami Mayor Carlos Gimenez, a vocal supporter of the project, told the Miami Herald, “This is the biggest project we’ve ever had in Miami-Dade County.”

Triple Five’s other properties include the 4.5-million square foot Mall of America in Minnesota, the largest shopping mall in the United States. The firm is also constructing the nearly 5-million-square-foot American Dream shopping/entertainment complex in East Rutherford, NJ and also owns the West Edmonton Mall.