It’s Official: Apple to Open at Miami Worldcenter
By Julia Echikson March 8, 2024 12:50 pm
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After months of speculation, Apple (AAPL) is officially coming to Miami Worldcenter, the 27-acre megadevelopment in Downtown Miami, according to a leasehold agreement filed to Miami-Dade County.
Construction of the one-story, stand-alone retail building at 725 NE First Avenue has been underway since November. The $12 million development, which sits on a 18,600-square-foot site, is at the corner of Northeast Eighth Street, just west of the Jewel Box retail building.
Apple’s tenancy was also confirmed by two people involved with the wider Miami Worldcenter project, at a Commercial Observer event in Miami Thursday. The store is expected to open next year at the earliest.
Miami Worldcenter is one of the largest private projects in the country, similar to New York’s Hudson Yards. Led by master developers CIM Group, Art Falcone and Nitin Motwani, the mixed-use development is set to feature about 300,000 square feet of retail space.
Sephora, Lululemon, and Ray-Ban stores have already opened. Other upcoming retail tenants include Starbucks, The Container Store, Rihanna’s Savage X Fenty, and a bar concept by Nick Jonas, among others.
For months, rumors have swirled that Apple had inked a lease at Miami Worldcenter, but representatives for Miami Worldcenter and Apple have stayed mum. A spokesperson for Miami Worldcenter declined to comment, while representatives for Apple did not respond to a request for comment.
The outpost will mark the tech giant’s sixth outpost in Miami-Dade County. The expansion is part of the Cupertino Calif.-based company’s effort to revamp its retail footprint since the 2019 departure of its retail chief Angela Ahrendts, who previously served as the CEO of Burberry.
Julia Echikson can be reached at jechikson@commercialobserver.com.
