It was a very busy start for a very long day. The organizers offered a continental breakfast along with a lot of networking. You got to meet salespeople, brokers and a very eclectic mix of others. It was announced that there were about 650 participants attending. There were a record number of DealMaking tables of retailers looking for locations.
They had a group of experts on a panel for the General Session. On that panel was Barry Somerstein from Greenspoon Marder attorneys, Aileen Boucle M-D Transport Planning Organization, Kashra Moahkani, General Manager of Uber, Joseph Napoli, Cheif of Staff, M-DAviation Department and Mike Reininger representing Brightline.
They spoke about the Smart Plan-Stragic Miami Rapid Area Transit- operating six in corriders. OnRide Share. One billion dollars has already been approved for the project.
Uber has an office on Brickell Ave with 100 employees. South Florida is one of its fastest growing areas and one of the first in the country to have Uber Eats with more than 200 concessions it raises $450 million dollars a year. At Hardrock Stadium there is a specified UberZone for pick up and drop off near the Rent a grill. Brickell City Ctr also has a specified Uber area. Westfield Malls have dedicated waiting areas with some of the malls paying part of the trip, so customers will leave their cars home. Ride share is now 4% of revenue in study. By 2030 it’s expected to be 25%.
Mr. Napoli explained that there are now 107 airlines operating out of Miami Airport, which has the largest Pharmaceutical Hub in the country. The airport will be increasing in size internally by 1.5 million feet. Passenger spending of $18-25 at concessions by millennials at the airport. Local vendors are invited to open.
Ms. Boucle explained central Miami is Expected to build 300,000 SF of office and 150,000 SF of retail. PalmBeach is also expecting a large amount of construction. Miami Dade Planning with the Smart Plan- is open to discuss with developers how to move people to centers.
At the end of the session everybody went back to work-the people with properties looking for retailers and the retailers looking for properties to suit their type of operations. It was a lot of running around but was well worth the time, effort and $$$.