What's the Big Deal About Doral?

MIAMI—Commercial real estate developers are flocking to Doral in droves. What's going on? Why is this Miami suburb seeing so much activity? There are plenty of reasons and Codina Group sees them clearly.

GlobeSt.com caught up with Ana Codina-Barlick, CEO of the new Downtown Doral development, to get her thoughts on the big deal about Doral in part one of this interview. Stay tuned for part two, in which she will discuss the foreign investment angle.

GlobeStcom: How has Doral become not only a desirable place to live, but also a sound investment for new retail expansion?

Codina-Barlick: Doral is one the fastest growing cities in America and has doubled in size over the last few years. With the highest employment concentration in Miami-Dade County, Doral is a prime location for retail expansion, as the area has a large, affluent population and is grossly under-retailed. Additionally, the population of Doral doubles during the workday.

Prior to the construction of Downtown Doral, the site was a decades-old suburban office park with vast fields of surface parking located directly across from the Trump National Doral Golf Resort and Spa. We envisioned transforming this space into a vibrant urban core that would be the heart of this booming community with the amenities of a major metropolis in the comfort of a suburban neighborhood.

This vision has become a reality, with Downtown Doral now serving as the new city center complete with condominiums and apartments, townhomes, office space, a government center, charter elementary school and walkable retail and dining—the key components to any thriving city.

GlobeStcom: How is the Downtown Doral development boosting local economic growth in the City of Doral?

Codina-Barlick: By taking this tired space and transforming it into a dynamic city center, we have helped make Doral a sought after location for top name retailers like Bulla Gastrobar from Coral Gables, Dragonfly from Gainesville, Marilyn Monroe Spa, UPS and AT&T to do business. Beyond interest from retailers, businesses are looking to move headquarters and offices to an environment where they can offer employees first-rate office space, walkable retail, an attractive park, and a local school for their children.

There is a strong demand for a work environment with a campus feel, and that is why the 600,000 square feet of office space currently available in Downtown Doral is almost completely occupied. We are also developing new Class A offices including the state-of-the-art building, Park Place, which will feature more than 185,000 square feet of office space in an iconic glass eight-story building and offer top amenities including an on-site gym.