The MDM Development Group, headquartered in Miami, purchased the former site of the Miami Arena for $45 million, with plans to build a new convention center hotel factored into the Miami Worldcenter.
The Miami Worldcenter is a mixed-use development being built across several blocks of Miami’s Park West neighborhood, north of the city’s downtown. When completed, the Miami Worldcenter will include condos, apartments, retail space and restaurants.
MDM Group is adding to the Worldcenter project through the development of the Marriott Marquis Miami Worldcenter Hotel & Expo Center, which will add a 600,000-square-foot conference and event center and 1,700 rooms to the area. A single tower consisting of the event space and 1,100 rooms will open first, and phase two of the project will add a second tower and 600 rooms.
Nichols Brosch Wurst Wolfe & Associates is the architect of the development, while interior design is being handled by RTKL.
“We have been passionately working on this project and are thrilled to be another step closer to creating a hotel and conference center that will continue to further the City of Miami’s stance as a true global destination,” Joseph Herndon, director of development for MDM Development, said in a statement. “The property will be a transcendent step for the community, not only bringing thousands of jobs, but literally hundreds of thousands of visitors to area businesses.”
The development site consists of 4.7 acres of space and is located at 700 N. Miami Ave. It was sold by Old Arena, and prior to that was sold for $35 million in 2012. Construction on the Marriott Marquis Miami Worldcenter Hotel & Expo Center is expected to begin near the end of 2017.