Miami Design District Brings Another Office-Retail Hub

Another mixed-use project designed by a globally recognized architecture firm is coming to the Miami Design District.

Miami Design District Associates and Raycliff Capital plan to build Sweetbird North, an eight-story, 120,500-square-foot office-and-retail project that will include more than 92,000 square feet of office space and 22,500 square feet of retail, according to a press release. Construction is expected to kick off in August and wrap up in early 2028.

The developer, a joint venture between Craig Robins’ Dacra, L Catterton Real Estate and Brookfield Properties, tapped global architecture firm Snøhetta to design the development which will rise on a 17,000-square-foot site. The address wasn’t immediately available.

Retail space will occupy the first and second floors, while offices targeting creative industries will span floors three through eight. The building’s design will feature a layered facade of mesh screens and planted terraces.

Snøhetta, which has offices in Oslo and New York, is known for an array of internationally acclaimed projects, including the Bibliotheca Alexandrina in Egypt, the Norwegian National Opera and Ballet, the National September 11 Memorial Museum Pavilion in New York and the redesign of Times Square.

Miami Design District Associates and Raycliff are also developing the Miami Design Residences by Fouquet’s, a luxury condo project at 39 Northeast 39th Street designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect David Chipperfield. Nadim Ashi’s Fort Partners and Qatari firm Constellation Hotels Holding are also part of the development team.

The Sweetbird North announcement comes on the heels of a wave of mixed-use projects with office and retail spaces taking shape in the neighborhood.

Earlier this month, developers started construction on Mirai Design District, an office-and-retail project at 4218 Northeast Second Avenue designed by Japanese architect Kengo Kuma. Lionheart Capital, Leviathan Development, Well Duo and The Lane Organization secured an $85 million construction loan from Monroe Capital for the project, whose ground-floor retail will be anchored by Italian restaurant Sant Ambroeus. The office component will target financial firms and creative-industry tenants.

Nearby, Helm Equities, an affiliate of JEMB Realty led by Ayal Horovits and David Escava, is planning a 36-story mixed-use project under the Live Local Act at 4201 Northeast Second Avenue. In addition to residences, the development would include 80,000 square feet of office space and 45,000 square feet of retail space housed in a separate six-story building.

Developers in the Design District are banking on Miami’s continued influx of companies and executives to drive demand for new office space, offering an alternative to more established business hubs like downtown, Brickell and Wynwood.

At the same time, a growing residential pipeline could help house those workers. A recent analysis by The Real Deal found nearly 1,000 residential units are planned in the neighborhood.