More than a half-dozen aging malls are slated to turn into thousands of new residences. Retail dirt is the last big land bank inside our built-out suburbs, and it's about to reshape home values around it.
The shopping mall is quietly becoming South Florida's most valuable land bank. According to The Real Deal, more than a half-dozen malls are slated for apartment-heavy redevelopment, and the unit counts are big.
In Doral, Greystar has proposed 896 units at Simon's Miami International Mall, on former Sears and JCPenney sites, with a 292-unit phase one. In South Miami, the city approved a redevelopment of the Shops at Sunset Place with seven towers of 12 to 33 stories, 1,513 residences and a 287-room hotel. And in Fort Lauderdale, the Galleria plan calls for eight 30-story towers with 3,144 apartments and a 170-room hotel.
These are proposals and approvals at different stages, so timelines will vary and not every tower gets built as drawn. That said, the direction is clear: in built-out suburbs where there's no more raw land, the parking lots of dying malls are where the density goes.
My read: this cuts two ways for the neighborhoods next door, and I'd watch South Miami and Sunset Place especially. Thousands of new residents, restaurants and walkability can lift long-term values and rents around a project. During construction, though, expect noise, traffic and uncertainty that can soften nearby resale in the short run. If you own within a few blocks of one of these sites, the redevelopment is now part of your home's story, and I'd factor it into any decision to sell before, during, or after the build.
Major redevelopments change values block by block. Tell me your street and I'll map what's approved or proposed nearby, and what it likely does to your home.
Explore Miami neighborhoods →Cover photography: Creative Commons / public domain — photo credits.
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