NY Times: Midtown in a Slump

screencap from Google Maps

We've found the predicament of Midtown Miami to be quite interesting for a while now: noting its trouble both here on Riptide and in print. Now the Grey lady is weighing in on the development's slump in a piece that just went online:

"The bankruptcies of Circuit City and Linen 'n Things have emptied sizable spaces at the shopping center, leaving it only 76 percent occupied, Mr. Freddo said. At the same time, some larger tenants are exercising their right to get an adjustment in the rent because of the vacancies. Mr. Freddo said the company now had an opportunity to replace weak retailers with strong ones, but brokers said that might be hard."

...

"Like condo projects everywhere, Midtown has experienced a sharp decline in values. In 2007, 248 condos at 2 Midtown sold for an average of $404 a square foot, according to CondoReports.com, a Miami research service. By the first quarter of this year, the price had slipped to $275 a square foot."

The Times also credits midtown with reinventing the way people shop in the City of Miami. So, now that we've been magically reinvented by the power of development, maybe we can suggest ways Midtown can reinvent now that it has both spaces left by Linen N Things and Circuit City to fill. A bookstore and movie theater have been popular suggestions. A Whole Foods has also been suggested here in comments before. The chain pulled out of planed downtown location in December, but suggested other locations in Miami might be possible. As for the development's condo problems, well, we're pretty sure blog comments aren't going to help there. 

[NY Times:  A Revitalization Project Stalls in Miami]