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Front Page » Top Stories » American Dream Miami mega-mall draws traffic concerns

American Dream Miami mega-mall draws traffic concerns

Written by on September 12, 2017
  • www.miamitodayepaper.com
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American Dream Miami mega-mall draws traffic concerns

Traffic In Miami-Dade and Broward counties is still a concern for the development of the American Dream Miami mega-mall in Northwest Miami-Dade County as meetings continue throughout the fall.
“It’s a little under two miles South of our county line, so we know it’s going to generate traffic impacts in Broward,” said Jo Sesodia, Broward County’s director of planning and development management.
The $4 billion project is to have millions of square feet of retail, an indoor ski slope, a water park, a walk-through aquarium, restaurants, a skating rink, theaters, a performing arts center, 2,000 hotel rooms and more. The 7.2-million-square-foot “retail-tainment” center would be completed in a single phase and open in 2023 if all goes according to plan.
Developer International Atlantic LLC, part of the Triple Five Group, predicts the mall will draw over 300,000 visitors daily.
“They say it will be an entertainment and leisure center that will rival Orlando, with over 70,000 cars each day,” Ms. Sesodia said.
The 194-acre space is at the Florida Turnpike and I-75, an already highly trafficked area.
Though the project would create about 15,000 permanent jobs, Triple Five estimates about 60% of the jobs would be low-paying, with salaries under $25,000 a year.
Ms. Sesodia said Broward has never explicitly objected to the project, but officials are worried about traffic congestion: “We’re concerned about the impacts on Broward County residents and we’re making sure there are significant projects to mitigate them,” she said.
At the most recent public meeting on Aug. 17, Broward presented the roadway and transit improvements it would like to see in the development improvement agreement, Ms. Sesodia said.
Ms. Sesodia identified three improvements Broward requested from the developers: a $28 million roadway extension to Miramar Parkway until US 27, the $1.1 million capital cost of an adaptive signal system on Miramar Parkway, and to design the on-site transit to include Broward.
The 194-acre space is now allocated for “industrial and office” buildings and would have to be re-zoned for “business and office” to allow for hotel, retail and entertainment.
The zoning hearings will continue through the fall and the agreement will be final toward the end of the year, said Jerry Bell, Miami-Dade’s assistant director of planning.
As for meeting dates and what’s next on the agenda, Mr. Bell said he didn’t have relevant information to contribute:
“I’m leery on giving exact dates,” he said. “They’re very large and complex applications and projects.”

6 Responses to American Dream Miami mega-mall draws traffic concerns

  1. ik

    September 13, 2017 at 1:15 am

    Miami mall will be great theme pArk like liongate 20 century fox paramount picture and dreamworks it will be greAt for south florida

  2. Michael

    September 21, 2017 at 8:37 am

    This is a horrifically placed project that will be mostly empty. Retail stores are closing all across the country, not opening!

    • Josh

      September 22, 2017 at 4:10 am

      Mostly empty? I will bet a million dollars that this place will not be empty…ever. Its more than just a mall its basically a theme park.

    • Danielle

      September 26, 2017 at 5:41 pm

      Michael, you are obviously not from Miami. All of our malls in Dade & Broward are packed with people…

  3. Karl Bork

    October 27, 2017 at 8:00 pm

    Traffic is terrible already. Very bad idea.

  4. Yadira

    December 6, 2017 at 11:29 am

    Let’s take a moment to analyze: mostly all the big attractions are in central Florida (Orlando) attracting thousands of tourists every day. That generates millions of very needed jobs. This is a very good opportunity for us in south Florida to boost the local economy. If we turn it down, they will likely go somewhere else like Orlando or Tampa and we are out of the game. I have many family members and friends that have decided to move to Central Florida and they are doing 10 times better than here in South Florida. Their jobs are better in many ways and more importantly the houses or apartment they buy or rent are at a much more affordable price. Developing only new condos and houses will not help us in the short run.

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