'Landlords looking to make concessions on warehouse space'

A redevelopment of Shops at Sunset Place, an outdoor shopping mall that opened in 1999 in South Miami, is scheduled to begin this year.

Plans 10 revitalize the space call for the mall to be demolished and replaced by a new mixed-use development featuring seven towers ranging from 12 to 33 stories, including 1,513 residences, a 287-room hotel, a 1,300 seat movie theater and restaurants. It will have nearly 150,000 square feet of shops and restaurants and more than 50,000 square feet of workspace. Developers aim to  integrate walkable, village-style streets into the area.

Stephen DeMeo is a principal at Lee & Associates South Florida and represents Paris Baguette, a French bakery cafe.

"I searched down there for weeks, if not months, looking for viable space for them in this place," Mer. DeMeo said. "I mean, once this place comes along, we definitely would have been involved in this with Paris, and I've got a couple other clients that may work for, two being a jazz club and a virtual reality, so depending on the curated mix of tenants that they go with there, they could build something really special. And, by the sound of everything I've heard and read and talked to people about, that's what they're going to do, so it should be exciting."

The redevelopment is to roll out in phases, with the first phase, which includes streets and a condo-hotel, expected to be completed by 2029. Demolition was scheduled to begin in the first quarter of this year, meaning it should already be underway, but its progress is unconfirmed.

"They're going to bring a lot of residential to that little quadrant there, which is, its going to bring some vibrancy to it and then they're going to try and make a little village out of it, a village community atmosphere, which I think would be great because it's a lot of dead space there, as it sits now with the mall," Mr. DeMeo said.

"It's just all enclosed and inward facing from the road," he said, "so it's, really, its tough from what's been there to what they're imagining, it sounds like something pretty spectacular and exactly what they need in a location like that."

In 1982, the site was home to a $35 million mixed-use property called Bakery Centre. Located at the intersection of US 1 and Red Road, the 10-acre mall was once a South Miami landmark known for being a bustling entertainment hub, but it saw significant vacancies in the late 2010s after years of declining foot traffic du to a shift toward online shopping and competition from nearby malls. It was ultimately acquired in a $65.5 million transaction in late 2020.

"I think there's a definite need down there for something like this, a walkable villages, especially with the campus [University of Miami] right there and all of South Miami there," Mr. DeMeo said. "It's been a pretty dead space for a number of years now, with that mall and the blight that's caused, so to put something in there that's vibrant, mixed-use, there's some entertainment, there's some dining mix, there's daily use lifestyle type of stores that can service all the residents."

Midtown Development acquired the property from Federal Realty, Grass River Property, and Comras Co. The real estate investment firm joined forces with London-based architectural firm Heatherwick Studio to design the new project.

Past redevelopment efforts have failed, but the new proposal includes long-term financial incentives, such as higher projected property values by 2034, to ensure progress. In October 2024, Sunset Place was unanimously approved for redevelopment during a City of South Miami commission meeting.

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About Lee & Associates South Florida

Lee & Associates South Florida is a fully vertical commercial real estate brokerage firm focused on industrial, office, retail, multifamily, investment and land sectors. Our dedicated team of professionals is led by Matthew Rotolante, CCIM, SIOR a 4th generation South Florida native in a family that has owned and operated commercial property here since 1928. Lee & Associates is the largest agent owned brokerage in the nation with Senior Agent’s ability to earn profit share resulting in the highest splits while still receiving full resources, support and leads from our national network. Our collaborative and cheerful culture allows for open communications throughout the company, fostering the sharing of information and best practices to better enable client decision making.  The Lee & Associates’ robust national network that sold and leased over $120 Billion in the last 5 years offers clients a cross-market platform of expertise and deal opportunities across all asset specialties and representation roles. For the latest news from Lee & Associates South Florida, visit leesouthflorida.com or follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram, our company local news.

About Lee & Associates

Lee & Associates is a commercial real estate brokerage sales, leasing and management firm. Established in 1979, Lee & Associates has grown its service platform to include over 75 offices in the United States and Canada. Lee & Associates is the largest agent owned commercial real estate brokerage where agents get the greatest return for their efforts and hence are more committed and better enabled to provide superior results for their customers.  For the latest news from Lee & Associates, visit lee-associates.com or follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and Link, our company blog.