Big-box retail is out, and mid-rise rentals may be in at Miami International Mall, where Greystar is moving to turn two aging department-store sites into a nearly 900-unit apartment cluster along NW 107th Avenue in Doral.
The national multifamily giant has filed plans with the City of Doral to build up to 896 apartments across roughly 25.6 acres at the mall, replacing long-time anchors with rental housing in a three-phase project that would unfold just a quick drive from Miami International Airport. If it moves forward, neighbors and commuters can expect years of review, construction, traffic adjustments and, eventually, hundreds of new households plugged into the mall’s orbit.
As first reported by Connect CRE, Greystar’s proposal breaks the development into three phases: 292 apartments in the first phase, 230 in the second and up to 374 in a final phase. The initial stages would rise on the former Sears footprint, with later work targeting the JCPenney pad.
Plans filed with the city
Greystar Development East, LLC has applied for a master development agreement and a modification to the Miami International Mall consolidated DRI covering about 25.612 acres at 1625 NW 107th Avenue and 1603 NW 107th Avenue, according to a notice from the City of Doral. The request seeks a Mall Mixed Use (MMU) overlay along with a future land use amendment, zoning moves that would open the door for residential buildings on sites historically reserved for retail.
Who owns the mall and the pads
Miami International Mall’s enclosed center spans about 1.08 million square feet, based on property listings, and is currently anchored by Macy’s and JCPenney. The core mall is controlled by Simon Property Group, while several freestanding anchor pads have separate owners, according to The Real Deal.
Greystar’s plan zeroes in on those big-box parcels, treating them less like traditional anchors and more like development-ready sites that can feed residents directly into the mall’s shops and restaurants.
Design and scale
A preliminary site plan prepared for Greystar by MSA Architects shows clusters of five- and six-story apartment buildings positioned next to the mall rather than attached to it, a layout noted by Connect CRE. Early drawings indicate that parking and internal circulation would be handled within the former big-box pads and surrounding surface lots, with more detailed traffic and engineering studies still to come.
In other words, the proposal keeps the residential buildings close enough for a walk to the food court, but functionally separate so the apartments operate as their own community.
Next steps
The City Council is slated to take up the ordinances and the master development agreement next Wednesday at 6 p.m. at the Doral Government Center, according to the City of Doral. If council signs off on the overall concept, the project would move into more granular site-plan review, permitting and additional public hearings.
Residents, nearby businesses and anyone nervous about traffic, school capacity or construction noise will have chances to speak up at those future stages before any demolition or ground-breaking begins.
Why it matters
Across South Florida, repurposing underused mall pads into housing has become a go-to play as brick-and-mortar retail shrinks and land prices climb. Dropping nearly 900 apartments at Miami International Mall would represent a sizable new chunk of housing supply for Doral, a market that has been drawing steady developer interest.
The scale of the proposal also raises familiar local questions about congestion, schools and public services, especially in an area that already hums with airport-bound traffic and regional shoppers. For a sense of the broader backdrop, see coverage of Doral’s commercial appetite in Miami Today alongside regional multifamily trends tracked by Cushman & Wakefield.
For now, the big questions are whether Doral’s elected officials are ready to swap department stores for dense housing and how the community feels about becoming a test case for mall-to-multifamily at this scale.
