Owner: Omni is a 'linchpin' for revitalizing downtown Miami

The long-delayed Omni Center, which is finally moving forward, may be the key to bringing a critical mass of retail and foot traffic to downtown Miami, city officials say.

The first phase of the Omni project is a $26 million renovation and conversion to the Hilton Hotels brand, which should be done by early 2008. After that, Cushman & Wakefield is to lease more than 350,000 square feet of office space, with tenants in by 2009. The Comras Co. will finish by renting 300,000 square feet of vertical box space for retail and restaurants.

"This area is extremely crucial, and the Omni project will bring the critical mass to this area," Miami Mayor Manny Diaz said.

Comras Co. CEO Michael Comras said the two-block complex will be home to "several large tenants that have stores in Aventura and Dadeland," but would not identify who the tenants are. He said the project's efficient use of vertical boxes situated around a parking garage, combined with street-level stores lining the perimeter, will provide a pedestrian-friendly shopping experience that the downtown area still lacks.

Omni owner Mark Teitelbaum said his first intention when he bought the project in 2000 was to put up "a gazillion condos." But when the market slowed, he switched his strategy to mixed use, and said he is glad to provide what he calls "the linchpin" to supplementing all of the residences going up around the center.

"This is like the hole in the doughnut," Teitelbaum said. "It's critical."

Beefing up activity on Biscayne

Beefing up activity along Biscayne Boulevard is one of the primary focuses of the Miami Downtown Development Authority.

Executive Director Dana Nottingham said the DDA's master redevelopment plan, which is now in the draft stage, will concentrate on making downtown more livable, pedestrian-friendly and diverse. Several small-scale projects to clean up the Flagler Street area are already under way, including a trash pickup team, more garbage bins and potted plants. Some of the city's more comprehensive plans will be funded through private investment and through the recent restructuring of the city budget, which feeds $22 million for police and parks services.

Bernard Zyscovich, architect and managing principal of Zyscovich Inc., the firm charged with constructing the master plan, said he will start by "looking holistically at several independent plans and studies as a wholesale solution to downtown."

Zyscovich said he plans to redevelop the Omni and Overtown districts, revitalize the central business district and reinforce the Brickell area. The master plan includes proposals to make the 14th Street district, which has a 24-hour liquor license, into a late-night recreation spot, and to turn Park West into a conference hotel area.

Zyscovich said he wants to segment Miami into 12 distinct subdistricts to mimic the neighborhood feel of New York City.

Neisen Kasdin, a DDA board member and chairman of the land use practice group at law firm Akerman Senterfitt, likened downtown Miami to Chicago, with parks alongside Biscayne Bay mimicking Millenium Park and Biscayne Boulevard acting as a Michigan Avenue.

"We need to make the Biscayne Boulevard corridor spectacular," he said. "There's no reason Miami can't be like all of these other great cities."