Brickell CitiCentre to Break Ground

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Leading Urban Developers of South Florida, Swire Properties, will break ground on a $1.05 billion mixed-use complex called Brickell CitiCentre on Wednesday morning.

The groundbreaking ceremony on South Miami Avenue will include a traditional Chinese blessing involving lion dancers. Mayor Carlos Gimenez of Miami-Dade County and Mayor Tomas Regalado of the City of Miami are both set to attend the event.

The five million square-foot project will cover three blocks just south of the Miami River and West of Brickell Avenue. The development will include luxury retail stores, offices, a hotel, two residential towers, a wellness center, restaurants and a large department store.

Swire Properties, known for their $1-billion development on Brickell Key, believes Brickell CitiCentre will help transform Miami into a more complete metropolitan city, representatives told the Miami Herald.

"This project is not about what exists today or three years from now when we open," Steve Owens, president of Swire Properties, told the newspaper. "It’s about what exists 10 years from now. It’s about changing this community."

Owens and Swire Properties Ltd. CEO, Martin Cubbon, will oversee the groundbreaking Wednesday.

In recent years, Miami, a city lacking a central urban shopping market like most major U.S. cities, has made increasing efforts to fill in these gaps.

According to the Herald, What separates Brickell CitiCentre is that it will bring together all the separate elements Brickell and the surrounding areas offer at a single location.

"When you have a project that creates a sense of place you get a different result," Andrew Dolkart, economist and president of Miami Economic Associates, told the Herald.

A study by Miami Economic Associates placed the projected overall economic impact at $1 billion in addition to generating thousands of jobs both during construction and afterward.

Swire plans to build a metro-mover that runs through the building's third floor in order to make the complex more accessible and more city-friendly.

"It will be a great amenity," Jorge Pérez , Related’s chairman and chief executive officer, said of the new development. "Miami is not just about fun and sun anymore. We are becoming a much more complete city."