UHealth expansion? University of Miami scoops up Pinecrest Macy’s for $40M

The University of Miami scooped up the Macy’s furniture store in Pinecrest for $40 million, signifying a potential expansion of its medical center network. 

UM bought the one-story, 78,000-square-foot building at 13251 South Dixie Highway from New York-based Macy’s, according to records and real estate database Vizzda. Completed in 1972, the building is on a 4.6-acre site. 

The Coral Gables-based private non-for-profit university has an extensive health care network through its Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine and University of Miami Health System. Stephen Wooldridge, chief of facilities operations for UM Health System, is listed on the deed, signifying that the university may have plans to repurpose the Macy’s building for a medical use. 

University of Miami has been expanding its medical clinics throughout South Florida. 

This fall, it plans to open the six-story, 160,000-square-foot UHealth Doral Medical Center at 8375 Northwest 53rd Terrace, according to UM Health System’s website. The project is within the Downtown Doral mixed-use complex, whose development is led by Codina Partners. Also, the seven-story, 370,000-square-foot UHealth at SoLé Mia will open mid-next year at 2111 SoLé Mia Way in North Miami. That health center will be within the SoLé Mia complex, whose development is led by Richard LeFrak’s eponymous New York-based firm and Jackie Soffer’s Aventura-based Turnberry. 

The 12-story Kenneth C. Griffin Cancer Research Building at 1425 Northwest 10th Avenue in Miami is expected to open next year. The Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center at Doral opened at 8333 Northwest 53rd Street, UM Health System’s website shows. 

UM representatives didn’t immediately return a request for comment. 

This isn’t the university’s first real estate deal. Over several years, UM sold large development sites near Zoo Miami in south Miami-Dade County to Palm Beach Gardens-based Ram Realty Advisors, which has been developing a massive mixed-use project. UM sold an 80-acre piece of the site in 2014 for an undisclosed price, then a 15.6-acre portion of the tract for $9.6 million in 2020, and an additional 17.8-acre site $13.2 million in 2021. 

Pinecrest, home to more than 18,000 residents, is one of Miami-Dade’s most affluent municipalities. The average market value of homes in Pinecrest is nearly $1.7 million, according to the village’s website.