Report guides Miami Gardens into better retail

MIAMI GARDENS - A consultant’s report is giving city leaders here a detailed look at the retail market and how to improve it.

In March, the Miami Gardens City Council commissioned a study by the Buxton Company of Texas to measure retail consumption by the city’s residents. The findings - completed and made public recently - show holes in the marketplace in such areas as optical services, hardware stores, lumber and building supplies, household appliances, footwear, restaurants and more.

Although there are more than 2,800 businesses already in the city, many national brands are absent, and residents have been forced to leave the market to meet their shopping needs, said Daniel Rosemond, community development director.

“The intent is to determine a means to attract specific types of retailers,” Rosemond said. “I think we’re trying to create a balance between local business and national brands.”

At 107,000 residents, Miami Gardens is the third largest municipality in Miami-Dade County, he said.

The findings have been presented to the city council, which is expected to give city staff direction on policies, incentives and locations that will be used to attract specific types of retailers, Rosemond said.

That will be good news for commercial real estate pros like Jodi Macken, associate director of Macken Realty, which is doing leasing for the new 107,000sf Palmetto Gardens Plaza shopping center at Northwest 167th and 37th Avenue off the Palmetto Expressway (SR 826).

Developer DVD Holdings has recently broken ground on the project, Macken said, adding that the retail space is sorely needed in the market.

“The area has changed significantly. We have a lot of local people who live there and didn’t have the services and had to drive several miles to grab a bite or go shopping,” she said.

“We recognized the potential to help the area and to grow with them. The location is dynamite. We have about 120,000 cars passing by daily. Many of the users have the ability to have their businesses seen by that captive audience on the 826. We think we’ll do very well with it.”