Who's your neighbor?
Is it true they they are going to build a Walmart next to the Performing Arts Center?
I have nothing against Walmart. But is it really necessary for it to be located close to the Performing Arts Center? Can they build something like Harrod's or a Neiman Marcus instead? Who's horrible idea was this? Is it approved already?
Below is the link of the article
http://cbs4.com/local/Adrienne.Arsht.Center.2.762107.html
Below is the link of the article
http://cbs4.com/local/Adrienne.Arsht.Center.2.762107.html
Views: 65
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Alex (MUL) on
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I hadn't heard about this, but I do agree there may be a better location for a Walmart. At least it looks like Arquitectonica will give it a nice exterior design. Also, it doesn't look like it will be right on Biscayne Blvd.
Walmart is probably making a move here in hopes of undertaking Publix and Target with lower pricing.
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Permalink Reply by Joe on
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I really hope they don't do this... I like Walmart, but not in that space. It just seams like it wouldn't fit in.
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Permalink Reply by Bryant on
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Walmart is cool, but definitely not on Biscayne Blvd. It fits in better, further into the Midtown area.
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Permalink Reply by lovedowntown on
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Everybody should speak up about this. I don't live in downtown yet. I am planning to do so in the future. I do read a lot about downtown and this would kill every effort for this area to become the next South Beach
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Permalink Reply by Armando on
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If they design the building to look like it belongs in the area and not make it look like a warehouse it shouldn't be that bad for the area. I know it's not a high end store like some want but not everyone wants to be limited to high end stores only. It's not like they are putting a salvation army store in Merrick village.
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That is why there is a Target, Marshalls and a Ross in Midtown and also in Downtown. This shouldn't be next to the Performing Arts Center. You don't see a store like this when you go to an opera house in Paris, or an important theater in New York, or the Kodak Theater in LA, even the Theater district in Houston doesn't have a Walmart next to it. What is needed are nice restaurants in which people can eat at before or after the performance, and upscale bars to get a drink after the performance.
Walmart is a good store. But come on, there is a location for everything, and next to the PAC is not it for Walmart. I can picture the shopping carts randomly roming around the streets of a multibillion dollar building.
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An update regarding the Walmart in Downtown:
http://miamitodaynews.com/news/080724/story1.shtml
"...despite any objections, it appears the project's wheels are in motion."
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Permalink Reply by Mike P on
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What they really need to do is build a Publix right smack in the middle of Downtown! I heard there is going to be a Whole Foods Market and movie theater in the Met Complex. That will be awesome!
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Permalink Reply by Ivan on
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Attention, shoppers: Wal-Mart eyes downtown Miami
Posted on Mon, Jul. 28, 2008
BY MICHAEL VASQUEZ
mrvasquez@MiamiHerald.com
This rendering shows the new Citisquare retail project near Miami's Performing Arts Center.
Hankering for opera -- and $29 patio furniture? Miami may soon have just the place for you.
It's the future downtown, where a Wal-Mart big-box store may rise next to the Adrienne Arsht Center. Yet whether ''new'' translates into ''improved'' is open for debate.
If Wal-Mart's plans go forward, it would mark the second time in recent years a big-name, warehouse-style retailer has chosen Miami's urban core. Target opened its Midtown Miami location in 2006.
While Target's arrival was hailed as a redevelopment catalyst, Wal-Mart doesn't boast the same trendiness factor.
And Wal-Mart would occupy a higher-profile location -- one where city leaders have longed to attract sophisticated restaurants and upscale shops. Yet, looking to meld into the community, Wal-Mart is eyeing a decidedly different look for this store.
The deal isn't final -- Wal-Mart is not yet a committed tenant and the property in question is still technically owned by The Miami Herald's parent, The McClatchy Co. A sale is expected to close by the end of the year.
Nevertheless, Wal-Mart's interest is serious enough to have sent some residents and government officials into a mini-uproar.
''Horrors!!'' resident Sharon Dodge recently wrote to City Hall.
Another resident chimed in: ``There goes the neighborhood!''
And this, from a city commission aide: ``Visualize a Wal-Mart customer in his pickup truck and family of four driving past tuxedo-clad PAC center guests arriving simultaneously.''
The views may be extreme, but they reflect the bubbling concern over the big company's plans.
Lost in this sense of dread is the fact that downtown's Wal-Mart, if it happens, would not resemble the chain's other South Florida stores.
The retail development Wal-Mart would help anchor, City Square, is designed by Miami's world-renowned Arquitectonica firm. Though it's meant to attract big-box retail tenants, City Square also aims to be elegant and pedestrian-friendly.
''People coming to the performing arts center will have the opportunity to shop and eat and make their evening event something that's enjoyable,'' said City Square developer Mark Siffin, who described the project's design as having a ``timeless quality.''
Siffin declined comment on which retailers would occupy his project.
Michelle Azel Belaire, a Wal-Mart spokeswoman, called the downtown corridor ``a predominantly underserved market.''
''At this time, however, we do not have any agreements,'' she added in a statement. ``We continue to explore all of our options.''
It's unclear what type of store format Wal-Mart would pursue downtown -- whether it would go with its traditional discount department store offerings or its smaller, ''neighborhood market'' concept that focuses on groceries but also includes general merchandise.
Either way, Wal-Mart could be occupying pricey real estate, with City Square set to rise only a block from the bay.
Miami City Commissioner Marc Sarnoff, who represents much of downtown, cringes at the thought of a ``Wal-Mart on the waterfront.''
Though it was Sarnoff's aide, Peter Ehrlich, who decribed the chain's customers as ''pickup truck'' drivers, Sarnoff denies cultural elitism is motivating his opposition.
''I've seen a lot of BMWs and Mercedes in the parking lot of Wal-Mart,'' Sarnoff said.
What you won't see, according to the commissioner, are a lot of people walking to the store -- making Wal-Mart a bad fit for the city's goal of building foot traffic downtown.
Sarnoff also cites Wal-Mart's heavy reliance on foreign-made products as another reason he won't be shopping there if the downtown location is indeed built.
''If we don't want to outsource our jobs, we should do a better job of buying American,'' Sarnoff said.
There have been other criticisms of Wal-Mart over the years. Among them: allegations the company underpays its workers and the characterization of Wal-Mart as a retail bully. The opening of a Wal-Mart, conventional wisdom goes, inevitably leads local, beloved mom-and-pop businesses to go under.
Wal-Mart has argued that, as retailing companies go, it treats its workers better than average and the company has launched small business outreach in some urban areas.
And a funny thing happened in recent months.
As the U.S. economy continued to tank, Wal-Mart's sales figures steadily rose. The numbers provided a reminder of the increased buying power Wal-Mart gives the working class -- in hard times, a trip to Wal-Mart can be the only way for some to pay for life's basic necessities.
Drive inland from downtown's proposed Wal-Mart, just a mile or two, and it's easy to find Miamians living paycheck-to-paycheck.
Closer to the Wal-Mart site, though, are the condo dwellers, some of whom paid top dollar for their penthouse views.
Fred Joseph, who lives in The Grand condo tower down the block, has mixed feelings about Wal-Mart. He's fearful it will hurt property values, and so he doesn't want it to come.
Yet Joseph readily admits he'd shop there.
''I love Wal-Mart,'' Joseph said, calling company founder Sam Walton ``a brilliant man.''
At minimum, Joseph says he hopes the developers find a way to make Wal-Mart attractive.
Ben Fernandez, an attorney with the development team, said he believes this store is ``going to be different''
''All of these big-box retailers are morphing in big cities, and catering to all walks of society,'' Fernandez said. ``You have Home Depot in Manhattan with a doorman.''
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Permalink Reply by AJ on
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All of us residents at the Pace Park (1800, Quantum, Venetia etc) are joining hands to oppose this. I will give more info as I get it.
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Permalink Reply by george k on
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A question about Whole Foods: I thought that WFM was going to be located at ground level of Met 3-the very highest building of all at the Met project ..Is this correct ?
From what I saw yesterday from the metromover the designated site remains a staging ground for other Met projects and there has not been groundbreaking for the Met 3 building-
If this is correct then we will not see a Whole Foods for many years at this location-
and IF WF becomes impatient with a delayed opening would be cool for the area if they took some of the space that Walmart is eyeing across from the Arsht Center..
Mike P said:What they really need to do is build a Publix right smack in the middle of Downtown! I heard there is going to be a Whole Foods Market and movie theater in the Met Complex. That will be awesome!
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