Kimco Opens Door to Major Redevelopment of Mary Brickell Village With New Transit Zoning
A high-rise on the eastern side of Shops at Mary Brickell Village? It may seem unlikely. Mary Brickell Village has been massively successful in the city’s busy Brickell neighborhood since it was built in 2007, becoming one of the area’s most recognizable shopping and dining destinations. But one relatively hidden zoning change may point to changes coming to the property. Kimco Realty, which acquired RPT Realty and its portfolio of properties, including Mary Brickell Village in 2024, filed to place the eastern portion of the shopping center under the Metromover Subzone of the Rapid Transit Zone. The request would place the property under a county zoning framework designed to encourage significantly greater density and development intensity around the Metromover. In late July, Miami-Dade County approved the change, giving the property new rules that could support a much larger project than what currently sits there. That change is particularly important given the property’s existing zoning. Located at 901 S Miami Ave., the eastern parcel of Mary Brickell Village is currently zoned T6-48b-O. The T6-48 designation allows buildings up to 48 stories, along with a density of 150 units per acre and other development caps through the Miami 21 zoning code. While that already provides substantial development capacity, the Metromover Subzone opens the door to considerably greater flexibility. Under the Metromover Subzone regulations, properties can take advantage of no set height limit, no floor area ratio limits, no minimum parking requirements, and other extremely flexible rules. In practice, that means the eastern portion of Mary Brickell Village could theoretically accommodate a very large mixed-use development, including a supertall. Created in 2021, the Metromover Subzone was intended to encourage transit-oriented development around the Metromover by allowing greater density near transit stations and hubs. The county has described the program as a way to increase transit ridership while giving residents greater access to employment, housing and other services. Several major projects have already taken advantage of the development framework, including Citadel’s planned headquarters at 1201 Brickell Bay Drive. Mary Brickell Village is particularly well positioned for this type of redevelopment. The eastern side of the shopping center sits on roughly 1.1 acres in the middle of Brickell, with Metromover and Metrorail access nearby, making it exactly the type of property the county’s transit-oriented zoning changes are intended to target. More importantly, Kimco itself has previously identified Mary Brickell Village as having “tremendous untapped potential for future density”, meaning a highrise development is likely. There are still no publicly announced plans for a tower at the property, and the zoning change alone does not mean that Kimco has decided to redevelop Mary Brickell Village. But, with Brickell continuing to transform around it, the possibility of a major redevelopment is becoming pretty hard to ignore.
917-Foot FAA Permit Filed for B Residences in Brickell, Miami
Another developer is aiming to construct one of the tallest buildings in Miami. FAA permits filed for B Residences show the plan taking shape: a 70-story luxury highrise in Brickell that would rise 917 feet, just a few floors short of supertall status at 300 meters, or 984 feet. Empira Group, a subsidiary of Partners Group, unveiled renderings of the project a few months ago, and the FAA filing is one of the first signs the project is actually moving forward. Located at 11 SW 7th Street on an over-acre site, the property would rise on what were once plans for the expansion of Brickell City Centre. In 2018, Swire Properties, the developer of Brickell City Centre, turned to the city to convert the parcel into a residential highrise with ground-floor retail that would connect to a planned highrise across the street, also by Swire. Those plans, at least for the first tower, are now dead. The Breitling-branded condo is still awaiting FAA approval, and given that it will be among the tallest buildings in Brickell, approval is expected to take longer than it would for smaller structures. Arquitectonica is designing the tower, while the project is being spearheaded by the Partners Group, which owns Breitling, and Empira Group, which will lead local development alongside the watch brand. B Residences is planned to feature over 300 units that embody the “Breitling brand throughout”, including penthouses with tall living spaces and private pools. Amenities include unique city and ocean views, concierge services, rooftop pools, and a private gym, positioned as reflections of Breitling’s “brand identity” and quality standards. Residents will also have access to a 45,000-square-foot B Social Club spanning two levels, with indoor and outdoor programming designed to create a specialized social environment for members. Partners Group, investing on behalf of its clients, plans to put roughly $220 million into the project. Construction is expected to begin in late 2028, with completion targeted for 2031. Empira, based in Zug, Switzerland, has ramped up its Miami development activity over the past several years, tracking with the city’s growth in residents and companies. The firm is also developing the 26-story, 310-unit Perrin apartment tower in Brickell and opened its North America headquarters in downtown Miami in early 2024. Partners Group acquired Empira later that year, and the firm has continued operating under its own name. B Residences would be the second tower over 900 feet in Brickell if built, joining Cipriani Residences, which has already topped out past that mark and is aiming for completion in the future.