The Multi-Billion-Dollar Magic City Innovation District Is Coming To Little Haiti
On Thursday, the Miami City Commission will vote on a $1 billion real estate development located in Little Haiti. The huge project, which is expected to take between 10 and 15 years to complete and will be located on 6001 NE Second Avenue. The project's creators hope it will turn the Little Haiti area into an international attraction for creatives, tourists, and tech firms, according to those who are promoting it.
The city's commissioners will decide on a first round of approvals for the project on September. 27. If the project is approved the first round of approval, it must be approved again at a later time.
The Magic City Innovation District is the most recent -- and perhaps the most transformative -- major real estate development that is being conceived within Miami's urban corridor east of I-95. The development is a sprawl of commercial, residential offices, research, and entertainment spaces spread out over 17 acres. It will encompass everything from residential to commercial areas, parks to trains, offices as well as a tourist attraction conceived by the founder of Cirque du Soleil. The project follows several large-scale development projects in Brickell, Wynwood and the Design District that have hastened Miami's transformation into the world's largest city while increasing the cost of living and income gap.
However, the people who are developing the Magic City Innovation District insist they're trying to celebrate and improve one of Miami-Dade's most impoverished neighborhoods, not to replace it.
"The entire Magic City Innovation District only occupies one and a half percent of of Little Haiti," said Neil Fairman, chairman of Plaza Equity Partners, one of three Miami-based businesses behind the project. "It doesn't take up 10% or 20. However, it could actually be able to activate a large section of the area surrounding it, allowing residents to find jobs. It could be the motor that drives the Little Haiti train. It is already strong in the social fabric. It is not the intention to take the culture from the area. It is important to preserve and further develop this tradition.
The Magic City Innovation District stretches from Northeast Second Avenue east to Northeast Fourth Court/Florida East Coast Railway and Northeast 63rd Street south to Northeast 60th Street. The development is spread over a total of seven city blocks. when complete, it will comprise:
2,630 housing units with 14 percent of them designated as workforce housing and 7 percent being affordable housing. The tallest building rising 25 stories;
# 432 hotel rooms;
2. million square feet of office space, and 340,000 square footage of retail.
# 5,690 garage parking spaces
# Nearly 4 acres of green space, including a pop up theme park with interactive multimedia installations.
"We are determined to help the economic prosperity of the area and enhance the quality of life for the people living there while celebrating the rich culture of Little Haiti. It is a collaboration and sharing of a common vision of the project. The Magic City Innovation District is an unifying initiative that has launched a variety of initiatives to make the district more inclusive and accessible for all.
