Codina Partners has unveiled Publix Super Markets as its one-and-only grocer tenant for the upcoming Downtown Doral mixed-use project.
Construction of the supermarket and its dedicated parking is expected to begin in September and wrap up in December 2017. The store will be a relative latecomer to the 120-acre project’s roster of 70 retail shops and restaurants, which are starting to open this spring.
The announcement didn’t mention a square footage for the new Publix, though Armando Codina, executive chairman of Codina Partners had previously said it would be in the neighborhood of 50,000 square feet.
Codina is building Downtown Doral over the bones of the former Koger Office Park, an aging assembly of mid-rise commercial buildings near the Palmetto Expressway. The developer demolished those buildings as their tenants’ leases ran out.
Last month, Codina finished the project’s first of eight condo towers, 5252 Paseo. The 203-unit building sold out at an average of $375 per square foot, with a large portion of its units going to Venezuelans. Work has also begun on 5300 Paseo, another 219-unit condo building that’s asking an average of $400 per square foot.
The $1 billion Downtown Doral project is slated to bring 1 million square feet of commercial space, 400,000 square feet of offices and 2,840 residences to Doral when it’s completed. The project’s bilingual charter school also opened last fall.
Doral, once a heavily segmented and industrial part of Miami-Dade County, is experiencing a building boom. Big-name developers like the Related Group, Codina Partners, Shoma Group and Century Homebuilders are rolling out large-scale projects that promise to urbanize the city. — Sean Stewart-Muniz