Miami recently made the cut for Amazon’s much desired second headquarters. The area has pitched eight different sites throughout Miami-Dade County. Three of which are located within the City of Miami limits.
One of the most exciting sites is the one being offered as the Innovation District/Worldcenter site. This site has 23 million square feet of planned developments which include residential, retail, office and hotel space. The clear goal is offering Amazon a place where employees can live, work and play. Several other factors in play are the potential for Tax Increment Financing with a possible $1 billion value, just in time breaking of ground, office space to meet the 8 million square feet that Amazon needs and transit availability.
In addition, HQ2 would have easy access to the new high speed Brightline rail service which will connect Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach and Orlando (2020). The Tri-Rail, Metrorail, Metromover and I-95 are all also accessible within minutes.
Locally, there should be excitement about Miami making it to the final list of 20 cities. Cities that include New York City, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., Toronto, Boston and Chicago. If we can attract a whale like Amazon then the future is bright for Miami’s burgeoning (and hot) tech scene. Whether it is Amazon or Apple the Innovation District is real and will bring in a whole new industry to our city. It is fair to say that real estate values, rents and transportation will be impacted if unlike Ahab we can bring one home.