Massive Mall Proposed At Miami International Airport

By Scott Blake
Miami International Airport’s oldest terminal, dating to the 1950s, could be redeveloped to include a glitzy multi-level indoor shopping mall with escalators that officials say would set the standard for US airports.

The proposed mall is one of several concepts being considered for the Central Terminal under a strategic master plan being developed for Miami International.

"It would be a large retail development unlike what we have in travel anywhere in the United States," said Jose Ramos, who’s overseeing master plan development for the county Aviation Department.

As currently envisioned, the Central Terminal would be completely modernized and continue to handle airline passengers alongside a retail, office and hotel cluster.

A section of the Central Terminal — called the Landside Terminal — could be developed up to nine levels and 160 feet tall.

There are "vertical development opportunities for commercial and retail development unlike that seen at any other US airport," according to a plan copy obtained by Miami Today.

The idea would be to create "clear line of sight and easy access between the commercial/retail levels and the passenger processing levels," it states.

That could include several levels of retail and offices and several levels of hotel rooms, Mr. Ramos said.

What might hold back the idea, he said, is that county officials are reluctant to take on more airport debt in the aftermath of $6.4 billion in capital improvements to construct the airport’s North Terminal, among other things.

Airport officials would need a financial model that works for developers and other stakeholders in the Central Terminal, he said. "It’s still very early in the process."To read the entire issue of Miami Today online, subscribe to e -Miami Today, an exact digital replica of the printed edition.