Miami Worldcenter Associates, led by Art Falcone and Nitin Motwani, envisioned Miami Worldcenter as a walking-friendly downtown neighborhood when they first started working on the project in the early 2000s, drawing inspiration from Paris, London and other global cities that were developed before the advent of the automobile.

“Our original commitment was to build $1.8 billion of development in the early 2000s”, said Motwani, who is also the managing partner of Merrimac Ventures. “And as Miami has evolved, so has Miami Worldcenter.”

But while the project’s 300,000 square feet of retail space is open, the developers expect that number to grow over the next few years. “This is what currently exists. There will be more as the final phases … get built, getting that number closer” to about 450,000 square feet, said Motwani.

While developers declined to comment on additional details about what might arrive in Worldcenter’s next few phases, Falcone, managing partner of Miami Worldcenter Associates and founder and CEO of Falcone Group, said a potential major announcement is in the works.

“We do have a well-renowned brand that is committed to coming to Block C,” Falcone said, referring to one of the area’s few remaining undeveloped lots. “It’ll be a mixed-use, both retail and condo and hotel, and potentially a second tower being office. So that block is planned at two towers,” he said.

In March, Falcone Group and Nichols Architects unveiled plans for a 53-story condo-hotel spanning Block C with 280 hotel rooms, 351 luxury condos, 3,500 square feet of retail, 8,000 square feet of restaurants and 331 parking spaces. No partners for the project have been announced.

In addition, New York developer Witkoff is planning to build 12,500 square feet of retail with a 28,000-square-foot full-service restaurant and over 2,000 residential units at Miami Worldcenter. That’s in addition to other projects in the works in the neighborhood by fellow New York-based developers Naftali Group and Lalezarian Properties that opened the 53-story glass-clad Miami World Tower 1 at the end of 2024.

“This is now a city within a city,” said Harter with CIM Group. “As I have an opportunity to go around the world [and] see lots of different development, there are very few places that are as well connected and surrounded by so many cultural and art and office opportunities as Miami Worldcenter.”

 

Read full story: Downtown Miami retail space and plaza open in nation’s second-largest project of its kind – CoStar