The long-vacant Toys 'R' Us at the Palms at Town & Country is finally getting a new life, and it is all electric. Tesla plans to convert the empty big-box into a combined showroom and service center, filling roughly 45,255 square feet at 8789 SW 117th Avenue, with an opening targeted for late 2026.
Kimco Realty's property page now shows the 45,255-square-foot space at 8789 SW 117th Avenue as occupied, a footprint large enough to hold both the gleaming showroom floor and back-of-house service bays, according to Kimco Realty. Miami-Dade County zoning filings label the project "Tesla Center Kendall" and include plans stamped Oct. 18, 2024, indicating the company moved into the permitting phase last year, per Miami-Dade County.
Lease, timing and developer comments
The landlord is not being coy about the deal. Kimco told the Miami Herald it has signed a lease with Tesla for the Palms at Town & Country box and expects the showroom and service center to open in late 2026, according to the Miami Herald. “Tesla is a distinctive addition to Palms at Town & Country and underscores the property's strength,” leasing representative Katie Wycoff said in a statement to the paper. The Herald also notes the former Toys 'R' Us building has been sitting dark since June 2018.
Publix closure and the center's anchor shuffle
The Tesla deal is landing in the middle of a broader reshuffle at the shopping center. The longtime Publix at 8250 Mills Drive shut its doors on Jan. 17, 2026. The grocer plans to demolish the existing store and rebuild a larger, more modern supermarket on the same site, according to reporting by AOL. That project is expected to bring a full-service grocery back to the property within a couple of years.
Tesla's regional footprint
Tesla already has a solid foothold along the Miami-Palm Beach corridor, and the Kendall project will plug into that existing network. Nearby locations include a store in Dadeland, listed by Tesla, and another site in Miami Gardens, also operated by Tesla.
Transforming a shuttered toy superstore into an electric-vehicle hub tracks with a broader trend in South Florida retail, where aging big-box anchors are increasingly being repurposed instead of razed. County zoning records show the Tesla plan is still subject to review and public hearings documented by Miami-Dade County.
