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Codina-led JV scores approval for Hialeah mixed-use project
City council approved on first reading Westland Plaza, a planned redevelopment of a former Sears store and outparcel into apartments, townhomes and retail
A Codina Partners-led joint venture nabbed the initial green light for a planned transformation of a former Sears store, an outparcel and a parking lot in Hialeah into a mixed-use project.
The Hialeah City Council voted unanimously on first reading last week to approve Westland Plaza, a planned complex of 815 apartments, 15 townhomes, roughly 32,624 square feet of commercial space and two parking garages on 15 acres at Westland Mall, including the empty big box space, at 1625 West 49th Street.
Codina, led by Executive Chairman Armando Codina and CEO Ana-Marie Codina Barlick, is partnering with the indoor mall’s owner, Dallas-based Centennial, and developers James Carr and Manny Kadre to build Westland Plaza. Last year, the joint venture paid $16.5 million for the 153,596-square-foot Sears pad, the adjoining parking lot and the outparcel that had an automotive repair center that was recently demolished.
Westland Plaza will consist of two eight-story buildings housing the apartments, a three-story building containing the townhomes, a two-story amenity center, a public plaza and 1,559 parking spaces in the two garages.
The planned redevelopment is among a handful of South Florida projects that involve converting former big box spaces and mall parking lots into mixed-use developments that include market rate or affordable housing units. Other builders tackling such projects include North Palm Beach-based Electra America and Aventura-based BH Group, which plan Southplace City Center, a $1 billion makeover of Southland Mall in Cutler Bay.
The trend represents a lifeline for owners of struggling indoor malls that have lost market share due to the growth of online shopping.
“Malls around the country are failing,” said Hialeah Councilman Bryan Calvo. “I think currently [the empty Sears space] is an eyesore. We need more units. We need the highest and best use.”
Armando Codina told council members that he expects more indoor malls across Florida to either shutter or be partially redeveloped into mixed-use projects.
“In every major city, there will be one or two fortress malls that survive,” Codina said. “I think this mall would have disappeared.”
Two years ago, shortly after paying $149.4 million for Westland Mall, Centennial set out to find a development partner to add a residential component to the indoor shopping center, Centennial CEO Steven Levin told city council members. His company owns 35 enclosed and open-air malls across the country that have undergone or are in the process of transformations, Levin added.
Westland Mall also has two other big box spaces that are owned and occupied by Macy’s and JCPenney.
“It’s what we do on every single project,” Levin said. “This is the recipe for how to take a mall into the next 25, 35 and 40 years. They don’t survive as shopping destinations solely. They have to be infused with a mixed-use component, and residential is the key.”
Centennial decided to partner with Codina after meeting him and his daughter, Codina Barlick, at Downtown Doral, a massive mixed-use community master-planned by Codina Partners, Levin said.
“I knew immediately he was the right partner for us,” Levin said. “The Sears parcel is the challenge with this project, as it is with many malls across the country.”