After some eighteen years mired in intrigue, delays and lawsuits, a new Class A office building, named “SoMi Station” is set to rise on the corner of Sunset Drive and US1 at the gateway to South Miami’s retail and restaurant district.
Harkening back to the mid-1990s a mixed use project called “Hometown Station” was designed by Dover Kohl & Associates, renowned and locally established urban planners. That project called for retail and residential uses. However, in 2002-03, the Miami-Dade Housing Authority chose the South Miami Metrorail site for its new $27 million, 157,000 square foot office complex. Gone was the “hometown charm” of the initial project. However infrastructure and design issues were alleged, and the county ultimately cancelled the entire project.
While within the City of South Miami, the parcels abutting the Metrorail right-of-way are Miami-Dade County property under the control of the transit department.
As the battle over Hometown Station was waged and ultimately lost, South Miami residents and visitors were left with a barren plot of county-owned land surrounded by Jersey barriers and green construction fencing.
Eight long years later, the city was able to carve out 17,000 square feet for a passive park through a $1 per annum lease agreement with the county. The park was formally opened in a ribbon-cutting ceremony on November 24, 2009, complete with John Henry’s sculpture, “Paciencia.”
The site is now being developed by the Coconut Grove based Treo Group, a privately held real estate investment firm. This mass transit-oriented and state-of-the-art office building will display compelling architecture designed by Perkins+Will, an internationally-renowned American architecture and design firm. Ground floor amenities, such as shops and restaurants, will complement the SOMI town center’s live-work-play-learn environment.
Walk Score® has rated SoMi Station’s immediate area as a “Walker’s Paradise.” The area enjoys multiple upscale retail shops and restaurants, and the planned redevelopment of The Shops at Sunset Place.
It is apparent that investors and developers are looking to this suburban neighborhood as an opportunity for growth.
Fairchild Partners was selected for exclusive representation of SoMi Station scheduled to open in late 2018. “This is the most exciting development planned for the City of South Miami at the historic intersection of US 1 and Sunset Drive,” says Tony Puente of Fairchild Partners, who, together with Jose I. Juncadella, will spearhead the office leasing. “The ‘City of Pleasant Living’ is in the midst of a new boom, with SoMi Station having the distinct advantage of enjoying unparalleled accessibility, exposure and connectivity to all of Miami-Dade County.”
