We're receiving an in-depth look at American Dream Miami. The mega-mall is slated to be built in South Florida, but it's not a sure thing.
Nestled next to I-75 on 200 acres of prime real estate, developers are looking to build the mall in northwest Miami-Dade.
"It's a project of a different scale. We haven't seen anything like it," said Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez.
It's not just a mall. Mayor Gimenez calls it a "Disneyland of sorts" in South Florida. Stores and shops, along with hotel, movie theater, theme park, water park, ski slope, you name it.
"This is basically like that but except of the shopping being Disney world kind of stuff, it's more high end and shoes and stuff that you can buy there," Mayor Gimenez said.
The developers just submitted a huge proposal, trying to get the zoning of the land changed so they can start building. But many homeowners are calling the project anything but a dream.
"It's bad. It's the school buses, the trucks, lots of trucks," said Mercy Sierra, concerned neighbor.
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You can already hear the traffic on Sierra's residential street, and that's without the tens of thousands of new cars in the area.
"Our streets can't handle the traffic," Sierra said.
Mayor Gimenez said that's also his main concern. But the report does not address the traffic concerns. That'll be another two weeks.
"We want to make sure they comply with whatever they said they're going to do," Mayor Gimenez said.
For him, the biggest selling point of this project is the jobs.
"They claim they can have up to 25,000 jobs at that site and it's very important for Miami-Dade County," Mayor Gimenez said.
Although, right now in writing, the developers are committing to at least 7,500 permanent jobs; another number county officials will be double checking in the proposal before the dream becomes a reality.
The report now goes to county leaders to work out all of the details. But this is far from a done deal. Commissioners may not take a vote on the plan until sometime this spring.
