The Miami retail market is healthy, expanding and not showing signs of a slowdown. At more than 2.8 million people with an average household income of nearly $70,000, demand for more retail continues throughout Miami-Dade County. The submarkets of Aventura, North Miami, Coconut Grove, Kendall and Pinecrest, as well as the urban core submarkets of Brickell, Midtown and Wynwood, reflect this with low vacancy rates and increasing rents. Most of the new construction projects underway or recently delivered are in the form of mixed-use projects, both within Miami’s urban core and in well-established submarkets such as Coral Gables, Doral and the Design District. The bad news? Miami is landlocked between the Atlantic Ocean and the Everglades, limiting space for traditional retail development and retailer footprints. But here’s where it gets interesting, and promising — instead of abandoning the market, developers and retailers in Miami-Dade County are simply getting creative with the limited dirt available. Building Density Because of the scarcity of land and its high price per-acre, density is the top priority, resulting in a surge of vertical, mixed-use developments with structured parking. For instance, Brickell City Centre demonstrates that if developers want critical mass, sometimes the only way to …
