MIAMI—They hard to tear it down before they could build it up. Principal Real Estate Investors, owner of Miller Square Shopping Center, partnered with CREC and Schiff Properties to create new space for a ground-up development that will become the new home to a Ross store in Miami's West Kendall submarket.

The Miller Square team demolished an under-utilized section of the retail center to make room for a new 30,000-square-foot Ross. CREC believes the project will drive more shoppers to the retail complex.

“By demolishing more than 21,000 square feet of underperforming space at Miller Square and constructing a Ross, we are in a position to draw more retail brands that will add tremendous value to the center and attract more shoppers,” says Steven Henenfeld, CREC's co-director of retail leasing. “Seeing the opportunity to maximize revenue potential, our team negotiated relocation and termination agreements with smaller tenants in order to redesign the retail space to draw larger tenants.”

Located on the Southwest corner of 137th Avenue and Southwest 56th Street, Miller Square currently spans 196,323 square feet. CREC worked with the landlord to secure permit approval to build the new Ross Stores that will become one of the center's anchors.

Construction is set to begin soon with the store's delivery by 2015. After the Ross is complete, Miller Square Shopping Center will grow in size into a 205,120-square-foot shopping center.

“The opportunity envisioned at Miller Square is a text book example of how we are working with our property managers and leasing partners to create new value for our assets,” says Nate Adams, senior asset manager with Principal. “The result is a new anchor that will drive additional traffic to the property and benefit our entire roster of tenants.”

Beyond Ross, LA Fitness recently took over a 27,680 square foot space formerly occupied by Bally Total Fitness. Miller Square is also home to a Publix Sabor supermarket, El Dorado furniture store, ACE Hardware, CVS Pharmacy, UPS Store, GNC, and H&R Block.

The West Kendall submarket is one of the fastest growing areas in Miami-Dade County. Age and income demographics show the area has a young, upwardly moving, high-income-earning population. The area is primarily residential with a high density of single-family homes, rental apartments and town homes.