Related's Jorge Perez Envisions Lincoln Road-Type Mall On Miami Avenue

Developer Jorge Pérez wants the city of Miami to shut down part of South Miami Avenue and turn it into a Lincoln Road-type pedestrian mall. The concept would complement his Related Group’s SLS condo-hotel project at 1300 S. Miami Ave., which will start construction in six months.
Pérez said he’s talking with the city about doing a test program that would close Miami Avenue from Eighth Street to 13th Street on the weekends.
Arquitectonica is being asked to give a concept of how the closure might work permanently, with handling traffic one of the challenges to be examined.
The city has not provided significant feedback yet, Pérez said.
Swire is building 3,000 parking spaces at Brickell CityCentre, which provides an incentive for people to just park their cars and walk around, Pérez said.
Pérez said he thinks Swire may also buy the Northern Trust site, in the 700 block of Brickell Avenue, which has been widely speculated in the real estate community. The site would provide Brickell CityCentre with Brickell Avenue frontage.
Swire is widely expected to face competition on the site from condo builders, but Pérez said he thinks Swire might pony up the money so it can build an office building.
The Capital at Brickell site, at 1421 S. Miami Ave., is also for sale, said Pérez, who has an interest in buying it. However, Related may already have enough land in the area.
Related is teaming up with Los Angeles nightclub entrepreneur Sam Nazarian to develop the $300 million SLS Brickell condo-hotel in Miami.
 
Source:  SFBJ