Bids Are In: Former Miami Herald Site Could Sell For Nearly $1.5B

The former Herald site in downtown Miami is attracting significant interest from developers, according to Bloomberg.

Bids are coming in at prices which could set a U.S. record for a development site, listing broker Michael Fay told the news service.

The highest bid came in at just under $1.5 billion.

A total of five of the bids exceeded $1 billion, Fay said.

Based on those bids, the property could become the most expensive development site in the country, Fay added.

Bids are coming from both international and domestic developers.

Bidders are contemplating a number of different development possibilities. They include an entertainment complex, office space for financial companies, or luxury residential condos.

Genting plans to select the top three proposals, and then make a decision on the top bidder within weeks.

The Miami Herald’s parent company sold the property to Resorts World Miami LLC in 2011 for $211,812,040. The company is a subsidiary of Malaysia’s Genting. The current offer to developers also includes air rights to build on county property above a Metromover and bus station, which wasn’t part of the 2011 sale (those rights were won by Genting in a later proposal to the county).

The former Miami Herald building was demolished in 2014, and the land has been mostly vacant since then.

After the sale, Genting will maintain ownership of around 10-acres across the street, including the former Omni complex. The company said recently that it will focus on and accelerate development of that site now that it was selling the Herald land.

 

Resorts World Miami was once planned on the site, but Genting has been unable to get approval for a casino:


 

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Anonymous
8 months ago

This would be ideal for Hudson Yards style development, complete with architectural significant designs.

Juan
8 months ago

The great thing about Hudson Yards is it incorporates tons of public space alongside the residential buildings. I’m hoping the company that acquires this land has that in mind.

Anonymous
8 months ago

As long as the real “Related” wins the bid, because if it’s the other one, we’ll get more mediocrity like One Brickell/Baccarat Residences.

El loco
8 months ago

Except Hudson yards is a transit site, we can’t even get metromover to the beach

Joe CARollo
8 months ago

Ideal location for a dog race track and cockfighting arena with tens of thousands of parking spots…

Local Elections Matter
8 months ago

Don’t Forget a Giant Croqueta Sculpture surrounded by a garden inspired by Bartolo’s Platanal

Anonymous
8 months ago

It can go on top of the Miami Circle, now that we buried it. What’s the point of a park where people live?

Anonymous
8 months ago

All the dislikes make me think we should raise and enclose the Miami Circle in an indoor/outdoor community space with retail and restaurants.

Anonymous
8 months ago

Great idea

Anonymous
8 months ago

Then where exactly will my yorkie do her deed?

Juan
8 months ago

Classic Joe

Anonymous
8 months ago

only the greatest developers in the world can afford this land so a real game changer will be built on this lot

anon
8 months ago

borneo? just look in our backyard in brazil, they are doing worse damage to the rainforest than ever before

Anonymous
8 months ago

“our backyard” L O L. 3000+ miles away is our backyard? So like San Francisco is the girl next door?

Professional Engineer
8 months ago

Great place for a walmart with an oversized surface parking lot….in all seriousness though I hope they incorporate tons of green space and public square similar to MWC.

Vince
8 months ago

Or a Costco 🥰

Anonymous
8 months ago

Those things will be built in Overtown!

Anonymous
8 months ago

Overtown is a great central location for a Costco and a Costco gas station with discounted gas.

Professional Engineer
8 months ago

Why? It’s still considered downtown

Norm
8 months ago

Costco School of Law

Downtown Millennial
8 months ago

I assume you’re being sarcastic, but we will fight against a Welfare Mart going anywhere near the Urban Core.

Melo is sigma and Chad
8 months ago

When is that hotel getting built that was proposed over the Omni station

Anon
8 months ago

It’s not.

Oh, come on !
8 months ago

If they don’t put a Valsan here, it would be considered the biggest oversight and tragedy in all of Miami history!

Anonymous
8 months ago

Lmao, for real though!

Anon
8 months ago

Venetian Harbor

Anonymous
8 months ago

What?

Anonymous
8 months ago

This is where the soccer stadium should’ve been built…

Daniel
8 months ago

Billion dollar soccer field? At that point just reclaim land in the bay and connect it to a bridge. Still cheaper!

Rabbit
8 months ago

Or the Herald Square City Center proposal way before Genting.

wanderer34
8 months ago

Albeit the new soccer stadium could’ve been a much better shot at the waterfront, the new Miami Freedom Park is a great facility in a farther, but better location nearby the airport.

Anonymous
8 months ago

Soccer stadiums are empty the majority of time and need to be placed in the outskirts of cities.

Anonymous
8 months ago

So are Basket Ball Arenas though, and we’ve got one of those in downtown now.

Jeremey Howlett
8 months ago

The area should be used as a park, with botanical gardens, and the largest water feature in the country, also, There’s plenty of other spaces in Miami that should be developed into condos before this site.

Anonymous
8 months ago

Exactly! If we want to fill Miami and add some rich meat to the currently hollow interior, we can’t just create a skinny border of ultra luxury condos on the waterfronts. There has to be some appeal for spending a lot of money in interior areas, like being a 5-10 min walk to entertainment, cultural attractions and leisure spots on the water. That’s the long game for more Miami wealthy condos, but of course short sighted people will want to take the quick money grab without thinking a few steps ahead…

Anonymous
8 months ago

Love botanical gardens! Let’s keep building density but make it a beautiful place to live. Attract tropical birds and butterflies with landscaping to add charm and neat Irak sounds (some places play bird sounds on speakers because it improves quality of life, and in Miami we could draw in flocks of tropical birds and colorful butterflies.) People come here for the environment and nature, otherwise they’d go to another dense city.

Anonymous
8 months ago

While I like your idea, there are 2 large parks within very close proximity. I don’t see your argument winning much support with those parks so close.

Jeremey Howlett
8 months ago

Gotta plan for the future, construction of cities all around the world has taken off because one day there’s going to be an asteroid that is too large to change is trajectory, and before it hits, everyone will need to relocate to different areas. That’s why we need to keep building concrete high rise buildings. Any tsunami that hits will take out all the glass but everyone on higher floors or holding up in the stairwells will be safe and after the tsunami, the superstructures will still be there, and humans will have safe shelter to restart civilization. Or, if an ice age was to start, everyone would start relocating to south Florida, and the more people here, the less work for everyone else.

Anonymous
8 months ago

Is this supposed to be an April Fools Day comment?…

Anonymous
8 months ago

My vote is for luxury condos. This area is perfectly located, we just need more people living here to spur more development to connect the downtown core.

anonymous
8 months ago

Most luxury condos in Miami are vacant. I think a mixed use development with condos, rental apartments, office and entertainment/shopping would be the ideal use of the property seeing as its so close to the water and metromover

Anon
8 months ago

Most luxury condos are no longer vacant. 10 years ago, I’d agree — Miami is a much different place — I’d suggest revisiting with updated data.

Not Anonymous
8 months ago

I strongly disagree with all of you. With such an important, public, and transit adjacent plot (which the luxury condo owners would never use) It would be best to build a gigantic, accessible class A office development akin to Hudson Yards, and the World Trade Center, as the city lacks office space and has the highest occupancy rate in the nation. The city has plenty of condo buildings, but a development like this is needed and would simulate more growth than half empty condo buildings and just another mixed-use tower ever will and attract tech companies and their high-paying jobs.

Anonymous
8 months ago

Hudson yard has a ton of condos… it’s not only office space

Anonymous
8 months ago

This is nowhere near the water like the new Dream Hotel across from Jose Martí Park, Riverside and Brickell. The Underline leads there so that’s that area most likely to resemble Hudson Yards. There’s so many ugly abandoned boat yards… that could be restored with luxury world class masterplanned neighborhoods.

Anonymous
8 months ago

I thought this was a different spot. It is by the water. A Hudson Yards style project could be good here too.

wanderer34
8 months ago

I’d like to see the office buildings concentrated either in Brickell of in Downtown. Even though it’s in the Omni District, and yes, you can call it Downtown, I’d like to see something built on that site as opposed to another office tower. The Miami World Center is supposed to be where the new office space is supposed to be as well as condos and apartments. One can only hope that all the supertall proposals gets completed by 2030 for that to happen!

Anonymous
8 months ago

Let’s keep the office space tucked away nicely behind all the luxury towers. We don’t need a bunch of workers staring out the window all day. Plus Hudson yards views are not that great.

anonymous
8 months ago

Even if all of the luxury condos were occupied the amount of economic activity from luxury condos only vs, retail, office, hotel, rental apartments, etc is no where near the same. This is a massive waterfront parcel that should be used for highest and best use (which luxury condos only wouldnt be)

Anonymous
8 months ago

We shouldn’t over build residential, without thinking of a sustainable economy with mixed use otherwise we risk a huge housing bubble collapse!

Anonymous
8 months ago

There really isn’t very much of a risk from a housing bubble collapse in Miami. I think the county has said that we’re in a deficit of like a quarter of a million units or something like that. And housing prices are pretty inflated here to begin with already. So as much new housing and residential stock as possible would be incredibly beneficial.

Rabbit
8 months ago

That is such a lie.
Either you are liar, or just unaware or uninformed. Sorry….if you are just stupid, I apologize for calling you a liar.

“Most” means more than 50%.
That wasn’t even true in 2013.

Anon
8 months ago

Luxury condos…how imaginative

anon
8 months ago

a city is nothing without real people, that shop in the retail, work in the offices and attend the schools. ultra Luxury winter residences in a city center is beyond idiotic.

Anonymous
8 months ago

Along Metrorail stops west of I-95 yes, but that idea this bayfront land would be for “affordable” crowds makes no sense at all.

Anonymous
8 months ago

Quit separating affordable housing into zones, or quit making affordable housing all together. There’s a missing middle market that doesn’t want to live in a ghetto.

Anonymous
8 months ago

If they don’t want to be separated, they should get a higher-paying job to afford to live in the waterfront areas. Not that complicated.

Anonymous
8 months ago

There are limited higher-paying jobs in Miami. I imagine the multi-million condos are occupied by seasonal remote workers and “independently wealthy”. Many professionals just want to live in an upper middle class area, not just ultra rich and ultra low income. We should focus on this, too.

Anonymous
8 months ago

Why does the expensive area have to be the waterfront area? Can’t there be a mix of expensive options? Some people want skyline views and the convenience of being in the hub of the city or near transportation. There can be expensive areas shuffled around the city and that is what makes the city safer, more well-rounded, and sustainable against downturns.

Anonymous
8 months ago

Waterfront and affordable housing don’t go together. Even though you wish they did.

Anonymous
8 months ago

I don’t think water adjacent condos need to be affordable. I am concerned about the reverse—artificially restricting value of neighboring non-waterfront areas by clustering more affordable housing there.

Anonymous
8 months ago

Affordable housing is the biggest mistake ever. There’s a reason they got rid of the projects a long time ago, because it keeps people down, and the buildings look like crap. Just build luxury housing, and all the nice hardworking people will inherit money to afford them, you see there’s always a way.

Anonymous
8 months ago

This is a great spot for affordable housing mixed with luxury condos and historic restoration projects.

Anonymous
8 months ago

Lmao Yeah, let’s put affordable housing on the most desirable land in the county. Makes perfect sense.

Anonymous
8 months ago

I read this as “I want someone else to subsidize getting my broke butt living on the waterfront.”

Anonymous
8 months ago

Just let build the original resorts works with the casino and stop the nonsense.

Anonymous
8 months ago

Casino is an absolute non-starter for many of us who live nearby.

Anonymous
8 months ago

Can’t do that here. It would destroy the Las Vegas economy, plus, you don’t want a bunch of people leaving south Florida sad and mad they lost all their money. They need to leave here feeling refreshed, and relaxed, like they really got their money’s worth. That way they go home and scheme about how they are going to afford a luxury condo, so they can move to an area that has the absolute best of everything they want, all within a short distance.

wanderer34
8 months ago

While the old Resorts World proposal was eye popping for it’s time, it’s time to move on from that dated proposal, and build something that’s should help Miami’s cultural sphere and that is to build a museum. Reason being is that Miami doesn’t really have an art museum in the same vein as the Metropolitan Museum of Art or MoMA in NY, the Art Institute of Chicago, the MFA in Boston, the National Gallery of Art in DC, or even the Philadelphia Museum or Art.

Even the art museums in Montreal (Montreal Museum of Fine Arts), Ottawa (National Gallery of Canada), and the smaller, but very underrated Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec blows away whatever collection is there in the Perez Art Museum. The old Herald building used to have a sq. ft. of 770K in seven stories (pages 10-11 for the first link).

The largest art museum in the world, the Louvre, has square footage of up to 782,910. Not sure if the old Herald building would’ve been considered suitable for a museum, but this is possible the greatest chance to build an art museum the can hold up to 1 million sq. ft. of gallery space, maybe a bit more and become the largest art museum in the world, and especially in the Americas since the Met in NY has up to 633,100 sp. ft. of gallery space excluding storage space.

Hopefully, the old (and new) money looks at this post and gets a major brainstorm to create what should be the site of a world class art museum, hopefully constructed by either Architectonica (Calatrava is just too expensive and too time consuming), and maybe this art museum should open during the country’s semiquincentennial or 250th anniversary!

https://www.dadeheritagetrust.org/2012/dht-miami-herald-report-sept-13-2012.pdf

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_largest_art_museums

https://www.city-data.com/forum/miami/3374482-does-miami-need-new-art-museum.html

Anonymous
8 months ago

Miami needs more culture! That’s what makes it distinct. It’s not on the beach. It’s never going to compete with Miami Beach as being the beach resort condo spot. While waterfront is nice, Miami City is about culture, transportation, career opportunities, and lifestyle.

wanderer34
8 months ago

I say this: there’s going to be much more condos in the upcoming future and we’re building more of them, as well as apartment buildings, and I’m not sure if Miami is building cooperatives, but Miami should consider building co-ops just to keep the amount of home owners in the city.

Either way, there’s too many condos being built in Miami as it is, and the three museums that Miami currently has aren’t cutting the cultural appetite of the populace. The old Herald building can serve as a template for what may be an eventual cultural institution that can rival other major museums in North America, and one can hope that the cultural apparatus and the old (and new) money in Miami can vouch to build such an institution in Downtown Miami because, like I said: there’s too many condo projects in Miami and building a lowrise, high profile project at that site will greatly replace what was once an architectural masterpiece at the Miami waterfront.

Anonymous
8 months ago

True though, I miss the old Miami Herald building, it looked so pretty on the skyline on the drive from Miami Beach to downtown Miami.

Anonymous
8 months ago

The City and County may actively try to downplay the popularity and demands for culture and education — because they are primarily funded by condo real estate tax money. Is there some way to incentivize the City and County to incentivize culture?

wanderer34
8 months ago

I guess that people try to conflate Miami w/ Miami Beach and get the two cities mixed up to the point where saying Miami and Miami Beach are the same cities, when in fact, they’re not!

Jeremey Howlett
8 months ago

For starters, the area should be raised and a huge roundabout should be built. In the center of the roundabout a huge fountain with art statue should be built. The drain for the fountain should be 15 ft above sea level. During heavy storms when the storm drains are maxed out, pumps would turn on, spraying water all over the art statue and all the water would drain by gravity into the ocean or bay.For inspiration, look at old pictures from Iraq, they had a nice fountain and art statue that got destroyed in the war.

Anonymous
8 months ago

Love the design and grand waterfront retail and restaurant space.

Anon
8 months ago

You must be new.

305
8 months ago

Looks like a lot per acre, is this for real?

Anonymous but Famous
8 months ago

A museum on a $1.5B parcel ain’t gonna happen. But just for the argument, l couldn’t disagree more with those that are calling for a museum. The most important feature of this site is Biscayne Bay. A museum is at heart a warehouse, and would deny us a wonderful opportunity to connect with the bay. If we had miles of bayfront l might go with it but no, we need an extroverted facility (and residential- no venetian blinds/ computers) that exploits the outdoors…..But now, a concrete proposal. Examine the photo and you will note the ghost of the trolley turnaround from a century ago. It is useless and will only complicate the architecture aspect. Let’s turn this intersection onto a typical square one and trade with the developer the number of square feet they would take over as street and open space in the 2 eastern quadrants. Then consolidate the northwestern one with that extra footage to turn it into a sensible small square plaza.

wanderer34
8 months ago

I understand what you’re saying and respect you views on this. But this is basically a golden opportunity to place a museum at a prominent spot. There’s two other museums at Museum Park, and there can be more space for one more museum (maybe an archeology museum or a new site for the HistoryMiami museum?) at that park.

Since the Freedom Tower is technically the home to MDC Museum of Art + Design as well as the Cuban American Museum (two museums in one location; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_Tower_(Miami)#History), maybe this should spur up some sort of “Museum Mile” along Biscayne Blvd for Miami the same way NY has a Museum Mile for many of it’s museums (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fifth_Avenue#Museum_Mile), as well as even London (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Museum_Mile,_London). This would equate to up to five museums within a mile from each other.

Finally, condos and apartment buildings are practically being built all over the city and I believe that it should also be built in certain parts of Miami Beach to help with the housing supply. While I’m a supporter for development in and around Miami, there should be space designated for cultural space in the city, seeing that Miami is already in a building boom all over the city.

Hopefully, somebody reads this and gets the idea of a “Museum Mile” in Miami!

Anon
8 months ago

Please keep in mind we need more of this in Brickell!

Anonymous
8 months ago

Brickell is saturated. The future is downtown!

Frankonymous
8 months ago

more of what exactly? This is land for sale, they don’t even know what will be built there.

Anonymous
8 months ago

Maybe they mean more land for sale, which Brickell doesn’t really have anymore.

Anonymous
8 months ago

There’s are plenty of older low to mid rise buildings in Brickell that can be redeveloped

Anonymous
8 months ago

Nothing of this scale though

Frankonymous
8 months ago

Yes, you’re correct. There’s nothing left of the scale of “most expensive development site in the country” in Brickell.

Anon
8 months ago

We need more of this in brickell! Along with more public space and world class public art!

Anonymous
8 months ago

Come downtown for art, we have plenty of museums and arts and entertainment venues.

Anonymous
8 months ago

I can’t wait to see Yayoi Kusama’s Infinity Mirror Rooms at PAMM! Hopefully public art make its way to a Brickell, especially in up and coming parts. We are so lucky to have this world class museum in our City.

Anonymous
8 months ago

Yes Brickell is growing and needs more public art on the peripheral areas. Build on what is working, Even Overtown has large sculptures like the recycled troll.

comment image

Frankonymous
8 months ago

That’s in Wynwood, not Overtown.

Anonymous
8 months ago

entertainment venue??? miami had the ultimate venue proposed by Genting to bring entertainment there and yes i know a casino was included but was a VERY small piece of the puzzle with convention center and ballroom and over 50 restaurants and lounges along with residential and hotel component….im sure whatever comes will be nice but doubt it will ever be as coo las Gentings renderings….and i live across the street from this property….stay tuned….

Anonymous
8 months ago

We want classy entertainment not ghètto casino crowd!

Anonymous
8 months ago

totally true

Anonymous
8 months ago

To be honest though, I highly doubt that many ghetto-esk casino types would be coming all the way to what would have been a very classy looking downtown Miami Casino. There are plenty of other casinos in Miami-Dade and Broward Counties for those types anyways.

If the casino was ever built there, it probably would have been mostly people who live in the immediate area and people with money flying in for the entertainment.

wanderer34
8 months ago

IT’S DEAD!!! Get over it!

To Tell The T
8 months ago

Genting project would never have happened here.
Only possible in Dubai, Doha or Abu Dhabi.

Anonymous
8 months ago

Not true. The only hold back was the casino.

Anonymous
8 months ago

Miami is waaaay better than Dubai! To start, people have rights here😉

The Truth
8 months ago

We do?

anon
8 months ago

you have rights if you can afford a lawyer to defend them lol

Anonymous
8 months ago

Trying going to Dubai and see what not having rights means.

Anonymous
8 months ago

Woke people always complain about the US and romanticize all other countries. The reality though, is that their US privileged selves wouldn’t survive a day outside of the US, which is the greatest country in the world! (I have lived in many)

Anonymous
8 months ago

Why are we “otherizing” people with this “woke” witch hunt? People who love other countries can also love the U.S. This doesn’t belong on this site.

Anonymous
8 months ago

^^Oh no! He put your tender woke heart into a blender!

Anonymous
8 months ago

Kind of seems like your the one with a triggered heart man…

MisterMister
8 months ago

Aren’t casinos illegal in those countries?

anon
8 months ago

puritanical christians vs puritanical muslims both = no gambling lol

Anonymous
8 months ago

Nah, here it’s not about religion, it’s about class. We don’t want the crowd the casinos attract. Sorry not sorry.

Anonymous
8 months ago

*wear

Anonomatopoeia
8 months ago

Plenty of Christians circumcise boys.

Anonymous
8 months ago

Most Americans do, about 80%, including Christians.

Anonomatopoeia
8 months ago

UAE getting its first casino by Wynn

Anonymous
8 months ago

That only foreigners and the higher ups of their society would be allowed to go to anyways.