Shopping Center Business | The Comras Company Thrives in Miami

Miami-based The Comras Company is undertaking a significant role in Miami’s retail development. With the population boost in this area of Florida, the need for retail is growing and The Comras Company is using the opportunity to be involved with some momentous projects.

One of the company’s current projects is representing 24-Hour Fitness, the largest health club chain in the U.S. 24-Hour Fitness, which began on the West Coast and quickly spread across the country, has been offering signature athlete clubs by becoming partners with professional athletes. The health club chain has opened locations with Andre Agassi in Nevada and California; Lance Armstrong in Texas, Colorado and Oregon; Magic Johnson in California and Texas; and now clubs with the NBA’s Shaquille O’Neal in Florida.

The Comras Company has provided tenant representation services for the Shaq Sport Clubs, which span an average of 35,000 to 50,000 square feet. The first of these locations opened in Miami in 2005, and 15 more are expected to open in the next 24 months. The Comras Company is looking forward to working more with the joint venture.

“The great thing about 24-Hour Fitness is that they are very flexible in their consideration,” says Michael Comras, president of The Comras Company. “They really look at the demographics and decide where they can accommodate clubs. Just because it is a Shaq Sports Club does not mean that it necessarily has to have basketball. Shaquille is excellent and his concept is really all about fitness.”

The Comras Company also is working with retailers through the reinvigoration of Lincoln Road in the South Beach area of Miami Beach. Lincoln Road is a lifestyle-oriented pedestrian mall stretching between Lenox Avenue and Washington Avenue, which features arts and entertainment uses as well as restaurants and top-notch fashion retailers.

“To me, the most important lifestyle center in the country today is Lincoln Road,” says Comras. “It has arts and entertainment — the symphony, the Colony theater, the movie theater, bowling alleys — as well as restaurants and bars. Then of course there is all the fashion, which brings everything together. When you think about it, everybody wants a Lincoln Road in their backyard.”

But perhaps the largest project in the company’s sight is the OMNI in downtown Miami. A major redevelopment is planned for the property, which will convert the traditional enclosed mall and hotel into a high-quality mixed-use center housing a 100,000-square-foot Miami International School of Arts and Design, Class A office space, a four-star Hilton hotel and a massive retail portion.

The Comras Company is serving as the retail leasing consultant for the OMNI project. Plans include a four-level, 300,000-square-foot vertical retail building featuring street-level retail and restaurant space. The original JC Penney anchor will be redeveloped to include another floor of big box retailers, which will be accessed by new elevators, stairways and escalators. Owned by Argent Ventures and Morgan Stanley, the OMNI project is expected to be delivered in 2009.

“It’s really going to be a phenomenal transition,” says Comras. “It will really make the Omni a true mixed-use project. With the school, the offices, the hotel and the retail all in one project with thousands of parking spaces, and surrounded by all of the new residential development, you have a mixed-use center that can fire on all cylinders.”