Resorts World Miami - Mega projet a Miami

En Septembre dernier, Resort World Miami dévoile un projet de 3 milliards de dollars à Miami par le Genting Group..

Ce projet créera des dizaines de milliers d'emplois, attirer des millions de touristes du monde entier, et nouveau point d'ancrage de trois miles sur le front de mer proche du centre de Miami. Arquitectonica sera l'Architect, avec plus de 44 restaurant et 20 food courts, avec un centre de conventions, ce projet promet un grand futur a Miami Downtown et ses alentours....



by Analou Manent

Stunning plan that would forever change the face of downtown Miami

Genting set to reveal Miami plans today...

In a stunning plan that would forever change the face of downtown Miami — and perhaps energize a lackluster local economy — the Genting Group on Wednesday unveiled the details of its massive resort complex on the site of the Miami Herald building.

The size of Genting's project: enormous. There are four proposed hotel towers, and two soaring condominiums. There will also be high-end retail and an entertainment complex — perhaps eventually including a casino — that would contain 50 restaurants and nightclubs.

The plans, developed by Miami's famed Arquitectonica design firm, also include convention space. In total, it's an estimated 10 million square feet.
The price: Super-sized. The early estimates are for a $3 billion cost, but company officials concede it may rise. The company, which owns half of Miami-based Norwegian Cruise Lines, has already spent around $300 million just on land assembly. That includes $236 million for the Herald building, which would be torn down.

The buildings, which would rise just east of Biscayne Boulevard beginning at about Northeast 15th Street, incorporate the site's unique environment. Most notably, there is the high-rise density of an urban core. But the buildings' design details include curved, sail-like contours that are mindful of the natural wonders of Biscayne Bay, which the project would overlook.

"They actually look like fish," quipped Marc Sarnoff, the Miami city commissioner whose district includes the development site. Sarnoff said the project's striking features include its waterfront access and its plans to integrate with the adjacent bayfront Bicentennial Park.

"There's really nothing to compare it to," said Sarnoff, who quickly added: "The closest thing is Swire."

Sarnoff was referring to Swire Pacific's proposed $700 million mixed-use CitiCentre project in Miami's Brickell area. It's billed as a pioneering urban retail destination that will ultimately have 4.6 million square feet of space. Arquitectonica is also the architect on CitiCentre.

Swire, which developed the high-end enclave of Brickell Key, is, like Genting, an Asian-based conglomerate. And the Genting project unveiled Wednesday draws upon some of the cutting-edge architecture being built in the Far East.
Like the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, which hugs Victoria Harbor, the Genting project has bracing views of a body of water inextricably linked with the host city's history.

Like Festival Walk, a wildly successful Hong Kong mixed-use center developed by Swire and designed by Arquitectonica, the Genting project would provide a virtually self-contained urban environment in a climate given to tropical heat and rains.
Swire recently sold Festival Walk for $2.4 billion.

JOB CREATION

Design elements aside, it is the job creation element that most excites Frank Nero, head of the Beacon Council economic development agency. "Short-term, it means construction jobs, and that's where we need them," said Nero. In fact, Genting estimates somewhere between 15,000 and 20,000 building trades positions will be created by the undertaking.

The timing would be fortuitous. Construction employment in Miami-Dade County in July was 31,500 in July, according to state figures. That's down 43 percent from July 2007, when the real estate boom was cresting.

Long-term, Genting expects the resort to create 30,000 permanent positions. "Clearly, having a world-class resort, whether gambling or not, would be another feather in the cap," Nero said. Noting that Genting is moving ahead at the same time as Swire, Nero added: "When you reach critical mass, these things tend to build on one another," he said.

Although current Florida law would preclude casino gambling on the site, the Florida Legislature is expected to take up the issue during its session that starts in January. But Genting officials described gambling as an important — but added — amenity.

Jack Lowell, vice president of Flagler Real Estate Services in Coral Gables and a longtime veteran of the Miami property market, added that the Genting and Swire developments represent a potentially seismic shift in Miami's global economic ties.
Although the city has long drawn capital from Latin America and, to a lesser degree, Europe, it increasingly is forging deeper bonds with rising economic powers in Asia.

"Genting has impressive financial capability and it has identified Miami as an international city it wants to have a major presence in," he said. Lowell was one of a number of community leaders who recently traveled to Genting's resorts in Asia. They were "unbelievable," he said.

"The next generation of planes can fly directly to Miami from Asia," he said, which should further cement ties. "In the past it was a little too far, and you had to change planes."

Gregg Fields can be reached at (305) 347-6688.

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