According to Miami Herald, 50-year-old shopping center gets luxury department store Barneys New York, wider sidewalks and a new entrance designed to reduce traffic.
“We haven’t grown or enhanced the shopping center since the early ‘80s,” said Matthew Whitman Lazenby, president and CEO of Whitman Family Development, the mall’s owner. “For as us to be as successful 50 years from now, we need to create this enhancement package.”
The Whitman company wants to build a new village hall, construct more retail space and at least one public park. Bal Harbour’s village council and a referendum will be needed to approve a land swap between the developer and the village.
Lazenby said, that no public money will be needed for financing this $400 million project. CEO of Whitman Family Development hopes village officials and voters will approve the expansion.
The developer also plans to turn a parking lot into a pedestrian friendly plaza lined with bougainvilleas, allowing stores to have more street access, and to expands its flagship Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus. A new entrance on Collins Avenue with more entry and exit lanes for cars will reduce traffic by 15 percent, according to a traffic study commissioned by the developer.
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