Real Estate Florida - August/September 2008

ICSC Florida Conference attendees get a scaled-down look at Ram Realty’s Sheridan Station mixed-use development in Hollywood.

Weller says. “Even though we have different challenges within the project, each (component) feeds off the synergy of the other and the project as a whole.”

While Met 2 isn’t scheduled to open until 2010, the project is already showing success from an office leasing standpoint. Miami-based law powerhouse Greenberg Traurig announced in July that it will occupy 150,000 sf in the new building after its current lease at nearby 1221 Brickell expires. There are also reports in late sum-

mer that accounting firm Deloitte & Touche, now at Wachovia Financial Center, is considering leasing 50,000 sf, though Weller wouldn’t confirm any names of tenant prospects.

From the condo sales side, Weller says all but 20 living units have been sold in the completed Met 1, with those under contract proceeding to closing and its first residents now moving in. Those first occupants will make a huge difference in attracting additional retail tenants, he says, adding, “It’s very hard to attract people when you’re weaving your way through construction.”

Because the project started before the commercial credit crisis became apparent last year, Weller says Metropolitan Miami hasn’t endured the same struggles now experienced by other mixed-use developers. “From a financing standpoint, we have not encountered any problems moving forward because of the diversity of the project,” he says, noting that Bank of America and Wachovia Bank are involved in both segments.

INITIAL COMPONENTS BUILD MOMENTUM Other mixed-use projects around the state appear to be succeeding with their first components before the others are built. Tampa-based McKibbon Hotel Management Inc. opened two planned hotels this summer at Avion Park at Westshore, a 19-acre development adjacent to Tampa International Airport that will include 21,000 sf of retail and four restaurant outparcels. A 300,000-sf class A leased office building and 136,000-sf office condo structure are planned in the near future, though that segment has been

The RealShare Conference Series is pleased to announce it is expanding RealShare Westchester County to encompass
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