MIAMI-Six major anchors have preleased space in the Shops at Midtown Miami, the 26-acre, 645,000-sf shopping center under development by Cleveland-based Developers Diversified Realty. They are Target, Linens 'N Things, Ross Dress for Less, Circuit City, Office Max and PetsMart.

The former Buena Vista rail yard site has been separated into three distinct blocks. The first five anchors will occupy the north block of the center, which is scheduled to open this fall. PetsMart, along with additional anchors, will take space in the south block, set to open in spring 2007. The Mid Block, mid in both geography and timeline, will contain specialty retailers, national and local restaurants, pedestrian walkways, seating and a public plaza. Each block will have its own architectural style, and together the three are designed to reflect the urban location's various cultures. A DDR spokesman tells GlobeSt.com the center is now 40% pre-leased.

The shops, located on North Miami Avenue near Interstate 195, is the retail component of the 56-acre, mixed-use Midtown Miami development, which also calls for a hotel and approximately 2,800 residential units. "Because of its mixed-use elements, the shopping center will have a built-in consumer base," says Dan Herman, DDR's VP of development, in a statement.

According to published reports, the City and Miami-Dade County together provided $170 million in incentives for the project, and its overall cost is estimated to be in excess of $2 billion. According to year-end 2005 data from Miami Beach-based Terranova Corp., the average asking retail rental rate countywide is $23.55 per sf, skewed by rates that reach above $100 per sf in the city's affluent areas. On condition of anonymity, a local retail broker tells GlobeSt.com, "the rates for the Shops at Midtown Miami retail are set to lure big-name retailers to an as-yet unproven area. They are likely below the average for the city."