Midtown Walmart
in Miami, United StatesCategory: Attraction
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3055 N Miami Ave, Miami, FL 33129, USA Print route »
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Midtown Walmart is a controversial proposal by Walmart to build a 203,000-square-foot (18,900 m2) supercenter location on a 4.6-acre (1.9-hectare) site in the planned sub-district of Midtown Miami in the city of Miami, Florida, USA.The proposal never met local regulations because Walmart never owned all of the land upon which it planned to build, yet they fought a five year fight to build on land they didn't own and the City strangely violated all of its laws to help make that happen.
Walmart's Midtown plan was rejected the first time in February 2013, but was redesigned by Gensler and approved by Miami Planning and Zoning Director Francisco Garcia in August 2013, then upheld on appeal by the City Commission in November 2013. Midtown Walmart faced public and political opposition from area residents, business owners, and community activists after being poorly adapted to meet strict zoning regulations that resulted in the design differing slightly from the typical layout, such as utilizing second story roof parking versus a surface lot with more street liner retail spaces instead of a totally blank wall perimeter.
The original 2013 plan included 550 parking spaces on two levels above the 184,000-square-foot (17,100 m2) store.
Walmart did to build urban locations in Santurce, (downtown) San Juan, Puerto Rico, known as "Plaza 18", as well as Washington, D.C. where the city's first Walmart is a true mixed-use development, with third party retail as well as 300 apartments above the store.. Walmart's plan in Midtown Miami was not an urban store, but rather a suburban-style Super Center with parking in two floors above the ground level, instead of in an open lot. If built, it would be the first traditional Walmart location within the actual City of Miami limits, although there are numerous locations just outside city limits in Doral, Hialeah, Gladeview, North Miami Beach, and Westchester, as well as a "Neighborhood Market" in the western fringes of the city.
Purchased in October 2011, the retailer closed on the sale in January 2014 for US$8.2 million, the currently vacant site sits at the southern tip of Midtown between North Miami Avenue and Midtown Boulevard from Northeast 29th and 31st Streets, between the burgeoning neighborhoods of Wynwood and Edgewater.
After more than two years of litigation, Walmart won their very first court battle in August 2015. The litigation once again targeted the City's departure from the essential requirements of the law by providing Walmart illegal zoning variances and the illegal street re-configuration caused by the development which would contribute excessively to local traffic problems.
The Midtown development already contains a Target and a Ross which makes another big box retailer like Walmart redundant for the site.
The Walmart broke ground with an illegal permit from the City of Miami in January 2016, after a panel of state judges in the 3rd District Court of Appeals blocked a petition challenging the development.
In 2016, Stern won a judgment against the City of Miami in a public records lawsuit related to Walmart's plan to build in Midtown Miami. That case proved Stern's claims that Walmart did not hold good title to all the land upon which they obtained a permit to build from the City. As a result, the City of Miami froze their permit and eventually, construction of the Walmart was involuntarily halted when the City revoked their foundation permit on June 21st, 2016 and construction ceased at the site within the week, which is how Walmart's vacant Midtown site remains. As of October 17, 2017, the site remains undeveloped.
