MIAMI—There's a bona fide retail construction boom in Miami even as other cities across the nation see a decline of brick-and-mortar stores in an e-commerce age. So what's fueling Miami's appetite for retail?

From discount department stories to high street retail, foreign visitors and tourists from around the nation are coming to Miami to shop almost as much as they come to visit our beaches. Miami is setting records for tourism, its population is growing, jobs are coming online and retail space hasn't kept up with the demand.

Developers like Andrew Hellinger are responding with new projects. Hellinger is building River Landing Shops and Residences on the Miami River west of Downtown Miami. The 2 million-square-foot retail project will be home to a vertical power center, restaurants, close to 500 market-rate apartments, and a waterfront linear park to turn the river into the mixed-project's main attraction.

I asked Hellinger a pointed question: While major cities in Southeastern US are seeing a drop in demand for traditional shopping malls why is the demand for brick-and-mortar stores in Miami exploding?

“Miami-Dade has about 12 square feet of retail per person, close to half of the national average of 23 square feet per capita,” Hellinger says. “That means the new retail projects are just catching up with a pent-up demand. Retail stores in demand in Miami because many of our buyers are foreign visitors who come to Miami, in many instances, just to shop.”

Unlike domestic consumers, Hellinger says, foreigners need to walk into a brick-and-mortar store to purchase and take back. That's because they can't buy products on Amazon.com and get them shipped to Argentina, Brazil, or Venezuela.

“The retail developments under construction or in the planning stages in Miami are in strategic locations intended to cater to different segments of our community,” Hellinger says. “Our project, River Landing Shops and Residences, now in the pre-construction stage, was designed as a power center to target local and international consumers looking for value priced clothing, accessories, sporting goods and entertainment.”

River Landing shops is located between Downtown Miami and Miami International Airport, one of the busiest airports in the country. It is officially in  Miami's Health District, one of the largest employment centers in South Florida.