Bal Harbour Shops developer plans expansion, invests in Brickell project

Brickell CityCentre
Brickell CityCentre

The family of Stanley Whitman, the developer of the Bal Harbour Shops, plans to expand the high-end mall outside of Miami and, separately, in January purchased an unspecified stake in the proposed 500,000-square-foot retail Brickell CityCentre project, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Americaribe and John Moriarty & Associates of Florida were awarded oversight in March of vertical construction at the Brickell CityCentre project, an appointment worth approximately $500 million, as previously reported.

The contractors Americaribe and Moriarty will operate as a joint venture and be responsible for completing the first phase of the $1.05 billion, 5.4 million-square-foot Brickell project, which is being developed by Swire Properties. Phase one will include a luxury shopping center, two residential towers, a hotel, a wellness center and Class A office space, all scheduled for completion by the fourth quarter of 2015.

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A separate $100 million investment would expand Bal Harbour Shops to 650,000 square feet from 450,000, Matthew Whitman Lazenby, Whitman’s grandson and operating partner of Bal Harbour Shops, told the Journal. The iconic luxury shopping center, opened in 1965, boasts Fendi, Dolce & Gabbana and Ermenegildo Zegna, retailers that the Whitmans will also approach to consider opening locations in the proposed Brickell CityCentre project, the Journal said.

“We recognized this evolving demand from luxury tenants who now see the whole Miami area as worthy of more than one store,” the Journal quoted Lazenby as saying. [WSJ]Emily Schmall