The Miami-Dade County Commission voted on Thursday to approve the construction of American Dream Miami, billed as the largest mall project in the United States. The project had drawn vast controversy for the projected impact on traffic in the area, and for building so close to the Urban Development Boundary.
Two crucial votes took place. One was for land-use changes needed to develop the property. That vote passed 11-1, with Daniella Levine-Cava casting the sole '"no" vote. The second vote, which sealed the deal, was a combined vote on zoning changes and the development agreement itself.
If all goes as planned, the mall has a planned opening date of 2022, ushering in new shopping and entertainment options for South Florida. The project will be located in the northwest corner of developed Miami-Dade County, where the Florida Turnpike meets I-75.
Triple Five, the developer of the project, hired consultants to produce a report on the traffic impact. That report, which was verified by the Miami-Dade's Transportation Department, shows the project would draw about 70,000 vehicle trips a day.
In an interview with WLRN, Triple Five chairman Ezkander Ghermezian questioned the traffic study that his company hired consultants to produce, and which the commission was relying on for its vote. “There’s no traffic. The report is all exaggerated. The traffic is one-third of the report,” he said. “Whatever the report says, the traffic should be 20,000 or 22,000 cars. The report says 70, 60, I don’t know where they got this, the report is all wrong. They are all mistaken, there is no traffic.”
Broward County has threatened to sue over that report, which finds that the project would not have any “significant” impact on the neighboring county.
At one point the people in attendance were asked to stand if they supported the project. Nearly everyone in the room rose. Only a small section of people wearing t-shirts that read “NO MEGA-MALL TRAFFIC” in the corner remained seated.
“The traffic is terrible for this area. It’s not good this new mall. It’s not good for this city,” said Claudia Patino, a Miami resident who says she often has to drive into the area.
The president of Triple Five, Don Germazium, calls the use of the “megamall” word a "misnomer.” Most mall developers only devote about 1 to 5 percent of business to entertainment, he said. But a current project that the company is working on in New Jersey is dedicating 55 percent of its business to entertainment.
"That is a model no other developer in this country has any clue about," he says.
He listed the planned details that separate the project from the rest. That includes a 13-store chalet at the bottom of an indoor ski slope; deals that have already been reached with Cirque du Soleil, Dreamworks, Nickelodeon, Kidzania, and Cinemex; an ice hockey rink; an indoor lake with 360-degree bankside restaurants, three separate food halls, and the first Kosher Burger King in North America.
Several mayors from nearby municipalities took to the podium voicing support. Miami Gardens Mayor Oliver Gilbert III said that beaches alone won’t keep the region on the map for international tourism forever. "We have to continue to grow. We have to continue to be something special,” he said. “I support this item. I support this item because it's a maturation of who we need to be."
“We have an opportunity that's not gonna come around very often,” echoed Hialeah Mayor Carlos Hernández. “The working people of Hialeah are crying for something like this.”
Before the final vote, the commission adopted a budget policy against spending county taxpayer dollars on the development. Miami-Dade Commision Chair Esteban Bovo Jr. clarified that the policy was against spending money on the development and construction of the mall itself. Taxpayer money could still go towards transit and infrastructure projects that are related to the project. Developer Triple Five agreed to the policy, after withstanding pressure from rival big mall businesses.
Several of the minority of speakers who opposed the project were representing the interests of other megamall conglomerates, like Simon, which owns malls in Kendall, Coral Springs, Florida City, Doral, Sunrise, Orlando and other Florida cities. They were painted as old-school mall protectionists that fear the kind of disruption to their industry that American Dream represents. Miguel Diaz de la Portilla, a lobbyist for American Dream, said at one point, drawing laughs: “Don’t believe anything that Simon says.”
At the last minute, the commission unexpectedly voted to work with the Florida Department of Transportation to place an expanded busway leading 20 blocks from I-75 up NW 183rd Street to 57th Avenue, in order to help with east-west traffic. American Dream Miami would help fund that proposed busway. Commission chair Esteban Bovo Jr. said thinking about mass transit was necessary on the front-end rather than on the back end of such an enormous development.
"We're only going to have one shot at this," he said.
Developers estimate that the project would create 25,000 construction jobs and upwards of up to 14,000 permanent jobs.
During his short time giving public comments, Triple Five chairman Ezkander Ghermezian stepped to the podium to introduce his two daughters. One of them, Jennifer, who lives in Miami, said that there was “nothing” to do in Miami when it rains and that “it rains a lot in Miami.” The mall would be a reprieve from that, she said - a destination for families looking for somewhere to go. Outside the commission chambers, an ugly day loomed over the city, dropping rain and booming thunder.
As he wrapped up his comments, Ezkander Ghermezian pointed at her and said: "She was the cause of it. That girl was the cause of it.”
