800 residences set above railway depot
Thirty-two trains a day – 16 departures from Miami, 16 arrivals to Miami.
That is the ambitious expectation for All Aboard Florida, a private venture to bring passenger rail service back to South Florida.
Representatives of All Aboard Florida attended a real estate forum in Coral Gables last week and shared some particulars to the main train station under construction in downtown Miami, the southern end of a new intercity passenger rail link to Orlando.
The trains will come on line in January 2017, according to Charles Shallat, executive vice president with Lincoln Property Co., working with All Aboard Florida.
The multi-block complex being built adjacent to the county government center – MiamiCentral – will be much more than a transportation hub, although that will be the foundation.
“It’s a hub we’re creating,” said Mr. Shallat. The MiamiCentral station will be the culmination of all modes of transportation: The long-distance train, Metrorail, Metromover, buses, trolleys, bike rentals, taxis and more.
Those who choose to live at central station can do so without owning a car, he said.
But the project does include four levels of parking for those unable or unwilling to give up their private vehicles. Panelists agreed the transition away from the auto will be slow.
Phase one of central station is to include the base facility with elevated tracks. The entire downtown site for All Aboard Florida is eight blocks long.
Two residential towers with 800 dwelling units are planned for the project’s central portion, he said.
The downtown Miami station will be at Northwest First Avenue between Northwest Third and Eighth streets. There will also be a 2-acre multi-use gateway complex in Overtown at Northwest Second Avenue and Sixth Street to include mixed-use development with retail, commercial and parking.
The foundation or podium of the MiamiCentral station is targeted for completion within a year, with vertical construction commencing about this time in 2015, Mr. Shallat said.
Occupancy in the residential units is expected beginning in March 2017. The 800 residential units will be rentals.
When it comes to price, Mr. Shallat said, “Affordability … we struggle with that quite a bit. We’re not on the water.”
He said the project will introduce a lot of studio and small 1-bedroom apartments. He also mentioned a floorplan design with three bedrooms, each with a private bathroom and closet, where tenants share a common area.
The development may attract a mix of tenants, he said, with a focus on a younger working group. It is being marketed as a live-work-play address.
“We’re not looking to sell,” he said of the first two towers. The market for the residences will be a “more workforce driven community.”
Mr. Shallat extolled the many components expected to draw young professionals to MiamiCentral.
“It will be a fun place to live,” he said. The amenity deck is two blocks long, with two large pet areas, swimming pools, a fitness center, outdoor areas for barbecues and picnics and more, said Mr. Shallat. The project will also include a fresh food market, restaurants, shops and office space.
For the person who trades in a car for a lively urban environment, MiamiCentral will let them “experience a life, instead of experiencing a ride,” Mr. Shallat said, in reference to sitting in a car stuck in traffic for hours on end.
Central station’s address will offer “a positive to life,” he said.
At MiamiCentral, the passenger rail system will be elevated 50 feet to align with existing public transportation systems, with retail spaces beneath the tracks. The design allows thru-streets to remain open to traffic and creates an atmosphere of walkability, said the company.
The retail component of MiamiCentral is to include about 200,000 square feet of leasable space on the street level and in the main terminal concourse. The overall development plans to offer about 800,000 square feet of Class A office space.
A later phase of the project will include a mixed-use “super tower” on the southern end of the station, said Mr. Shallat.
Draft plans show the super tower being home to 225,000 square feet of hotel use, 610,000 square feet of office space and 200,000 square feet of residential units.
Complete build-out of the development is expected to encompass 3 million square feet.
While construction on the train station in Miami has started, construction has also begun at the sites that will be home to the company’s new stations in Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach. The Miami-to-Orlando rail service will have intermediate stops in those cities.
Headquartered in Coral Gables, All Aboard Florida is a subsidiary of Florida East Coast Industries LLC.
DC Copeland
November 26, 2014 at 11:00 am
People will look back on this as the greatest thing to happen to our community since the founding of Miami.
David M. Lane
November 26, 2014 at 2:02 pm
This will be perfect for those who like the sound of trains. We will probably all be old and gray before the all aboard florida is running 16 trains and the apartment complex is fully built and occupied. Any idea about costs for the units, size, views? Miami is slated to be a different place indeed!!
DC Copeland
November 26, 2014 at 4:28 pm
“Miami is slated to be a different place indeed!!” David, you probably wouldn’t have made a good Miami pioneer when Flagler had the audacity to run his railroad into Miami. Thankfully there were more visionaries living there at the time who saw the railroad as a boon to the economy– just as it will be today when people finally are given a “Grand Central Station” to whisk them around without the aid and headache of driving a car in clogged arteries. Having this option allows them to improve their quality of living while ditching their cars and saving hundreds of thousands of dollars over their lifetimes.
chris woods
November 26, 2014 at 10:13 pm
This development is a joke, and where do you expect this train to take you? to ft lauderdale. Its not exactly moving people 2 blocks over. its moving people hundreds of miles.
Martim
November 28, 2014 at 7:31 pm
Your comment made absolutely no sense. This development will revitalize a neighborhood that is blighted, provide a hub for various modes of transportation, a clear “highest and best use” when considered with what it currently is: a stretch of worthless concrete…and will be a central point for a variety of activities, living centers and connectivity with other areas of the city. This is a no-brainer…kind of like you.
Ben Grimm
January 9, 2015 at 3:25 pm
Blighted? An exaggeration on your part. It’s an area dominated by government buildings. At best, anyone moving there will have the sector all to themselves on the weekends and government holidays as it will be empty of activity. This development will revitalize after 20 years. That how long it takes for public projects to work (see Metrorail, Metromover, Tri-Rail). This project will probably have to be converted to rental apartments because no one is going to pay hundred of thousands on a unit that sits over a train station… not in Miami. Maybe All Aboard Florida is betting on foreign speculators who know nothing the area.
VJ
November 26, 2014 at 10:25 pm
So DC Copeland, you won’t need a car to go grocery shopping? If you don’t need a car, you don’t need a driver’s license! WooHoo, you just saved yourself another $67 for a six year license to drive. You’re gonna hoof it around Miami carrying your sacks looking like a hobo? You’ll grab the train and go where? Fort Lauderdale will be the next stop. Let’s go to that Central Station and see if we can grab a light lunch, some groceries, go to the drug store, visit the doctor, etc.. Heck, go to West Palm Beach and see what’s around that Central Station. When we are done doing that for the first 2 years, we might be able to go all the way to Orlando International Airport. Hey! They have a Harley Dealership at OIA. Maybe buy a Harley or rent a Harley for the day to “whisk you around Orlando.” And if you have an absolute need to visit the land of Disney, you can either rent a car or hop a bus. Public transportation. What a pain in the arse! Especially when you have to rely on it because you don’t have a driver’s license anymore. Nighty, night sweetcheeks. Enjoy your train ride to nowhere.
Edin Coralic
November 30, 2014 at 10:10 pm
Stupid comments VJ,where are you from,Chicago?
Vivian A
November 29, 2014 at 2:34 pm
If you live or have lived in SoFlo you know what traveling to and from Miami intells. Not to mention the fact that you can’t built out anymore. There is only so many lanes for vehicles you can construct before it looks like a Racetrack. You need to have multi-modal transportation in an area densely populated. Projections call for this and once it’s in place, it will benefit everyone, whether you use it or not.
don minor
December 1, 2014 at 2:34 pm
Why build this terminal, there is already a train going right into the airport, just about finished now. Surprise it goes to Fort Lauderdale and West Palm airports already. This means this building and plan is already working, what sane person needs 2 trains going into the same airport, then traveling to making the same stops ??????????? Passenger train travel already loses money, now these same executives want to double the loss, just so they can spend several billion to at best half used a terminal, that is not in the airport.Stockholders FIRE THESE BOSSES