24M-Square-Foot Downtown Miami Metrocenter Moves To RFQ Phase

The massive Metrocenter project in downtown Miami has moved to the Request For Qualification phase, according to the SFBJ.

RFQ packages were issued February 10, the report said.

After development teams are selected in the RFQ, a Request For Proposals will be issued to get detailed development plans and terms from those teams.

The winning bidder will have the right to redevelop 17 acres in Downtown Miami where high-intensity zoning is permitted.

According to an earlier presentation, the top bidder is also expected to be required to build:

  • new Downtown Miami transit terminal
  • new facilities for Miami-Dade main library
  • new facilities for HistoryMiami museum
  • K-12 school and day care center
  • 2.5 acres of open space
  • minimum 2,000 units of affordable and workforce housing units

The existing Philip Johnson-designed Miami-Dade Cultural Center is expected to be demolished as part of the redevelopment. It was built in 1983.

Up to 23.7 million square foot could be developed on the Metrocenter properties, the county has said.

 

 

Conceptual renderings of Metrocenter:

 




To be demolished:

85 Comments
most voted
newest oldest
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Melo is sigma and Chad
26 days ago

Will finally create brickell level density and foot traffic to this part of downtown.

Miami Winning!
26 days ago

This will greatly improve interconnectivity between downtown and Brickell, via the SW2 Bridge, including the new Brickell River District. Miami’s skyline has an opportunity to impress even more on all fronts. Miami winning!

Go Miami!
26 days ago

Wow this project is MASSIVE. It’s great to see even more cultural institutions, parks, and now a new public library come to downtown!

Anonymous
26 days ago

There aren’t going to be more. They are going to replace them. Huge difference

Anon
26 days ago

They are expanding both the History Museum and Library, adding a school, and including a new public park that will be larger than the previous.

Name
26 days ago

Public library is in downtown

Anon
26 days ago

“and now a new public library come to downtown” can you read?

Taco
20 days ago

If a public library has existed on this site for 40 years, and no one goes there, is it really there?

Anon
26 days ago

2.5 Acres of “Open Space” sounds a lot like a scaled version of Central Park.

Downtown’s central park could even have lily ponds, fresh-water fish, egrets and herons swooping in, and lush greenery to liven the catastrophically designed cascade of concrete of a former era…all flanked by world class designed cultural centers.

Anonymous
26 days ago

Do you know how small 2.5 acres are… lol

Anonymous
25 days ago

Anon they type of guy to suggest the Eiffel tower in a 10000 sqft park. He’s part of a delusional group that doesn’t take into account anything other than their own feelings.

Anon
25 days ago

Aquatectonica’s Canopy Park design is about the same size (3 acres), and includes pond shaped spaces with splash fountains, plus green space with inviting mixed elevations and pedestrian bridges. Something similar could work. Feelings are important, along with facts!

comment image

Taco
20 days ago

Well….they would be very small egrets and herons.

Andy
25 days ago

I love the vision you list. 2.5 acres is relatively small by comparison; Central park in NYC is about 843 acres according to Wikipedia

Anon
25 days ago

Please don’t dismiss the word “scaled.” The operative word is “central” (surrounded on all sides by residents/museums). When this area is finally reimagined, it will link Miami into one world-class city and add value across Miami.

Anonymous
26 days ago

Build and they will come!!!

Anon
26 days ago

Hope the developers tie in some neoclassical elements, ionic columns etc, as you would see in a a world cultural center.

Anonymous
26 days ago

Exactly, and not like the absurd conceptual renderings that look like a 1960s urban renewal vision.

Anon
26 days ago

They are just conceptual massings, relax

Downtowner
26 days ago

Exactly. I hope these are just ideas, and not actual renderings (buildings i.e.) they are pitiful, as if done by a 5th grader.

Anonymous
26 days ago

These renderings are simpler to show the potential massing.

Anonymous
26 days ago

I wonder if new facilities for HistoryMiami will include a display or facility to house the Miami Circle.

Anonymous
26 days ago

Then where will everyone’s dogs shit?

Anon
26 days ago

Why are so obsessed with where dogs shit? You’re constantly commenting about it. Let them shit in peace – what are you the dog shit police?

Anonymous
26 days ago

Shit in peace but not on the sidewalks, right? Or at least pick it up. It’s not a dog issue it’s an owner issue.

Anonymous
25 days ago

The real problem is the lack of green space for dogs to relieve themselves. The city and developers have done a piss poor job requiring grassy areas. Everything is concrete, hard scape, or bushes. In general people pick the shit up but it’s still going to leave a mess on the sidewalk.

We’ve got a new district two city commissioner. We should start taking all our complaints from this site to her and our county commissioner. Hold them accountable or vote them out. We bring the most money to this city by a huge margin and more of the funding needs to be dedicated to it.

Anonymous
25 days ago

More green space and water features! People are moving to Miami for to get away from all concrete, if we just turn Miami into all concrete they will leave here too.

Anonymous
25 days ago

District 3 too. A big part of Brickell is District 3.

Anonymous
26 days ago

We NEED dog shit police in Brickell and Edgewater desperately!

Shit and piss all over
25 days ago

This past weekend I went for a walk to Brickell city center and it is full of people walking their dogs inside the mall. The whole mall is full of dog’s piss against the shops windows. Then I decide to go for a run on Brickell Key and I have to keep looking at the floor not to step on dog ‘s shit.

Anon
26 days ago

Why you dickriding dogs when you know the city is ran by humans?

Anonymous
26 days ago

A nice way to put it, but more like dogs on two legs.

Anonymous
26 days ago

Whenever I catch a dog shitting on the sidewalk, I join in and shit upon the dog’s head.

Melo, a former giga Chad
26 days ago

This is badly needed in this part of town. Just need to make sure the streets remain human scale and not a valley of parking podiums

Anonymous
26 days ago

Being a county lead project this is an opportunity for people to have a voice in what they actually want ina new development project, not what developers tell them they ought to want through clever marketing.

Anon
26 days ago

Fingers crossed for a RAMSA designed public library and History Museum

Anonymous
26 days ago

For that don’t hold your breath lol

Anon
26 days ago

I wouldn’t be so sure. He’s been very active in Miami lately and he designed Miami Beach Public Library – I don’t think it’s that far of a stretch.

Anonymous
26 days ago

As long as the bidding isn’t rigged to exclusively favor Related/Arquitectonica, anything is possible.

Anon
26 days ago

I’m super excited to see what groups will be involved in this project, it’s going to be transformative.

Anon
26 days ago

Is this real? As in how realistic is that ?

Anon
26 days ago

Don’t hold your breath

Anon
26 days ago

That’s a placeholder rendering. And yes, the project, which was announced by the city earlier this year, is “real”

Anoooon
26 days ago

County*

Mizzykane
26 days ago

Please don’t let Melo get! It will be a bunch mediocre looking buildings.

Anon
26 days ago

It has to be someone from a world class city and fresh perspective lik Dubai.

calivalle
24 days ago

Ohh yasssss

calivalle
26 days ago

Need world class architecture for this project..Them boxes don’t do it justice ..

Bhornet
24 days ago

2.5 acres open space is pretty large for a project this size. If the city wants a large park, they need to buy land and build it or improve bayfront.

Name*
26 days ago

Now re-approve the Miami innovation district near world center. Not the northern magic city development.

Hands Off My Johnson
26 days ago

Can’t the Phillip Johnson building be renovated for better street-level interaction? Plenty of his exemplary works have renovated accordingly while keeping with the spirit.

Jriver
26 days ago

I’m going to miss the panhandling in that area.

Anonymous
26 days ago

Evidently this plan includes tearing down the West Lot parking garage. That was build like just 5 years ago. Great planning.

Club 12
26 days ago

Needs another strip club

Anon
26 days ago

That’s further north, in Park Wests growing nightlife district

Melo is sigma and Chad
26 days ago

nothing has been added to park wests nightlife recently, actually declined since two of the clubs closed down.

Anon
26 days ago

Three enormous towers containing restaurants, day clubs, pool clubs, and bars were recently released. Two are under construction.

Anonymous
26 days ago

There’s been nothing said about day clubs and not sure what you mean by a pool club… And there most likely won’t be because they’re residential towers not hotels

Anon
26 days ago

I can’t for the life of me imagine why people so confidently talk about things they know nothing about.

It says, clear as day, in *various* interviews and press releases, “a 20,000 square foot day club with pools and stages” “a 5-star gourmet food hall” “an 8,000 square foot casino-style sports lounge”. Those are just in reference to 11. 11 Beyond and West Eleventh will have additional clubs/bars/restaurants.

Anon
26 days ago

Really?? This is genius. It’s central meeting spot for nightlife, and people will want to go out for drinks after games and shows.

Anonymous
26 days ago

The 2025 DDA Plan scrapped the name “Park West” and replaced it with an expanded part of the Arts & Entertainment District.

Anon
26 days ago

Do you have a link? Park West sounds better, and it’s weird that the city just arbitrarily gives life to / kills entire neighborhood names as they see fit.

Anonymous
26 days ago

Check out the 2019 DDA “Greater Downtown Pipeline”:

https://www.miamidda.com/wp-content/uploads/Market_insights_June2019.pdf

Can you find Brickell Park or Museum Park on the map? I wouldn’t be surprised if these names change again.

Anonymous
26 days ago

Growing? With all the residential buildings going up they’re going to try to close the clubs

Anon
26 days ago

Isn’t it a lot of Airbnb condos? Nightlife will be boost tourism and arts and entertainment scene.

Anonymous
26 days ago

This part of downtown already has 24/7 nightclubs. From the designs of the new restaurant/clubs, it’s going to have a vibrant nightlife scene by the arena and theaters. Can’t wait to for the nightlife to be elevated there.

Anonymous
26 days ago

Miami needs parks. The area around the government center serves as a park.
There are many other places where a concentration of tall buildings is appropriate, but not here.

Anon
26 days ago

There’s going to be a large park and over 2.5 acres of public space.

Anonymous
26 days ago

Hopefully it’s a green space with manmade lake, and stone or wood pedestrian bridges. Look at Lake Eola (Orlando) or Lake Magnolia (West Palm Beach). If a pop up suburb community has the means to add a manmade lake, so can downtown Miami.

Anon
26 days ago

I’m going to go out on a limb and guess an enormous man-made lake isn’t in the cards for this development.

Anonymous
26 days ago

Lake Eola and I believe you mean Clear Lake, aren’t manmade. Also, we have two little things called Biscayne Bay and the Miami River that are underutilized.

Anonymous
26 days ago

I didn’t suggest those lakes were manmade, just inspiration on what a lake can do to raise values in an inland downtown area.

If you look at almost every new single family home community in Florid, the developers add a little manmade lake for interest and aesthetic. Why couldn’t downtown do the same? If we can build supertalls in Florida, surely the idea of a small manmade pond or lake is not novel or our of reach. It can be one small feature of the 2.5 acre designated park land being installed.

Anon
26 days ago

A fountain..?

Anon
26 days ago

For this size space, I’d start with a pond/lake with tropical birds and fish. Maybe engineered to drain rain water during storms? Not an expert on that…. Reconfigured concrete and glass is not enough to change the vibe. There should also be a Piazza style/size fountain somewhere.

Anonymous
25 days ago

You need to get real about the amount of space that takes.

Melo is destroying Miami
22 days ago

They just going to build 2.5 acres of paved area with some palm trees, so the dog owners and homeless will use it as a large potty pot. The developers get away with anything in Miami, urban planning is just a legend.

Robin Stan
26 days ago

It’s really a shame that they have to tear down the Philip Johnson building, but thats the price we have to pay for progress. At the very least, I hope that the new cultural center space is built before they tear down that building.

Anon
26 days ago

That building is some of his worst work. It looks like a prison. I can’t wait for that sorry excuse for a library to be torn down.

Anonymous
26 days ago

Considering that the new courthouse and Downtown 5th look like prisons, I would say it’s well ahead of its time.

ANON
26 days ago

Urbanistically that building was a complete failure and contributes to a dead section of the city. It’s completely hostile to street life and looks like a misplaced fortress. Past the time to see it go.

Anon
26 days ago

What is the opposite of a fortress? Water.

O'Cinema
26 days ago

The life highlight of that building’s life is in There’s something about Mary architect Partier performance

Pol
26 days ago

This will complete downtown Miami…Wow..i wish i was 20 years younger to see the final product..Miami winning..

Anon
26 days ago

I pray you will be here to see it Pol!