Creating a True Destination

Miramar Cove will bring a comfortable, approachable town center to a growing area of South Florida.

South Florida has seen exponential growth over the past five years. Since 2020, the population of Broward and Miami-Dade counties has grown by approximately 170,000 people, according to U.S. Census data, pushing residents further inland to areas once considered pass-through or home only to business interests. Rooftops are being built further from the coast, but the desire to be near the water remains. Western Broward County and northern Miami-Dade County — anchored by large MSAs such as Fort Lauderdale and Miami, correspondingly — have seen rapid housing growth, activating those submarkets. With plenty of jobs, direct access to Interstate 75 and the Florida Turnpike, the city of Miramar in southwestern Broward County is readying for the construction of Miramar Cove, a lifestyle town center development anchored by a 5.5-acre translucent blue water cove that will bring regional retail, entertainment and dining along with new residential, office, hotel and recreation opportunities. 

“We’re creating an experiential mixed-use destination where people will come for the waterfront dining, shopping and entertainment and return for the experience,” says James Bry, executive vice president of Sunbeam Development. “A planned super-sized fountain’s choreography, music and lighting will continually change, giving visitors something new to enjoy each time. That repeat visitation will generate sustained traffic and create a valuable customer base for our retailers. South Florida has never seen anything quite like it.”

Valued at $1 billion, the 125-acre ground-up project is owned by locally based Sunbeam Development Corporation and developed by Stiles Corporation.

The Ansin family, which controls Sunbeam Properties and Sunbeam Development, has owned the property ince the late 1940s, originally purchasing more than 2,000 contiguous acres. Starting in the 1970s, Sunbeam developed a 5.5 million-square-foot industrial/flex office park, now known as the 500-acre Miramar Park of Commerce. With its location almost halfway between Ft. Lauderdale International Airport and Miami International Airport and proximate to Interstate 75 and the Florida Turnpike, the park has been very successful. In the years since, Sunbeam has sold some of its land holdings to other developers. Yet, the company still owns a total of 18 million square feet of industrial and flex office space in South Florida and in the Indianapolis metro area, with a large portion of that in Miramar.

Miramar has benefited from above-average population growth since 2020, even by Florida standards, and the area has become more densely populated over the past decade. That rapid growth has fueled a demand for a downtown or town center that residents can enjoy on weekends, after work or to meet colleagues for breakfast and lunch. The influx of new residents has put pressure on recreational facilities like parks and walking trails. Miramar Cove — being developed adjacent to Sunbeam’s Miramar Park of Commerce — is on a quick timeline to meet many of these needs. Site work began earlier this year, and completion of the first phase is scheduled for Q4 2028, with the second phase underway shortly thereafter. When completely built out, Miramar Cove will have 400,000 square feet of retail, 2,850 units of multifamily, 125,000 square feet of office, and a 185-key hotel. Greenspace and water activations will also be a part of the project.

“This area is really lacking a true destination for shopping, dining and entertainment,” says Bry. “Retail has changed immensely over the past decade. You cannot just build a center in reaction to rooftops; you have to create a destination of experiences now. That is what Sunbeam wants to do with our last remaining large parcel of land in Miramar.”

Bry joined Sunbeam in 2021 to begin the initial planning of Miramar Cove. An architect by training, he spent the previous 15 years leading development for Seritage Growth Properties and Vornado Realty Trust.

The company has spent the past five years carefully planning what is needed to create a vibrant town center for Miramar that will serve as a regional attraction and bring a missing element of the South Florida lifestyle to the city. Determining market needs has been a moving target: with Miramar ranking among the fastest-growing cities in Broward County, developers are seeing the demographics shift every few months. The population of Miramar is roughly 145,000, and the community’s growth shows in its numbers; the average household income in the area has climbed from $77,000 in 2021 to just over $100,000 today. The city is also one of the most ethnically diverse in South Florida, and its relative affordability has drawn an influx of younger families, adding to the culture and lifestyle that Miramar Cove is designed to serve.

Central to Miramar Cove will be a large water feature — a 5.5-acre swimmable basin that will create what Bry calls an inland waterfront environment for the project. Named the Blue Mar Basin, the translucent blue water cove will simultaneously allow swimming, water recreation and entertainment. The cove is built on patented Blue Mar Basins technology from Orlando-based Martin Aquatic, the firm behind water experiences at Disney Springs, Baha Mar and Royal Caribbean’s Perfect Day at CocoCay. 

With a splashpad, coordinated lighting and nightly fountain shows, the Blue Mar Basin is designed to be both an anchor and attraction, bringing a key part of the South Florida lifestyle to Miramar Cove, says Bry.

“The Blue Mar Basin is something that will be new to South Florida,” says Bry. “It is an incredible feature that allows us to bring — and activate — water inland. The best feature is that the water is not designed just to be looked at, but for residents to swim and visitors to enjoy the waterfront.”

Restaurants will be positioned around the Blue Mar Basin, creating a special dining experience. The developer is currently in talks with a number of restaurant operators who will be new to the market, but who are not first-time restaurant operators. Sunbeam is also looking for a specialty grocer that will serve the needs of the larger community. The project has received an entertainment district approval, allowing open containers within the project. 

Bry says retail leasing interest in the project is strong, driven by pent-up demand for a place where residents and visitors from across the region can gather for any occasion. For Sunbeam, selecting the right entertainment anchor and restaurants will really set the theme for Miramar Cove, so the company has spent a lot of time analyzing prospective tenants to make sure they fit the developer’s vision and the community’s needs.

“Because of our ownership structure, we can be patient to ensure we find the right retail tenants for the project,” says Bry. “Few owners, like Sunbeam, have the luxury of developing a project without partners and at their own pace. Because we plan to own the property for the long-term, we can focus solely on making the decisions that are best for the project and the community in the short- and long-term.”

While Miramar Cove is built over 125 acres, most of the retail will be concentrated in a walkable mixed-use environment that will surround the translucent blue water cove and include the multifamily, entertainment and restaurant space. Retail will be located in several different areas and buildings throughout the project. Some retailers, like a few of the restaurants that surround the Blue Mar Basin waterfront, will be in their own buildings and feature indoor and outdoor dining. Other retailers will be located at the base of residential buildings, and a few spaces will be in multi-unit retail buildings, where it makes sense to have a complement of tenants. An RFP is currently in the market for the hotel operator. 

The project is designed with modern architecture, with what Bry calls a Caribbean influence. The master plan for the project was created by Boulder, Colorado-based 505 Design, which was acquired by Cooper Carry, who now serves as lead planner and architect. LandDesign is the principal landscape architect. Together with Sunbeam and Stiles, the parties have spent a lot of time concentrating on the experience that residents and consumers will have at Miramar Cove. The waterfront dining district, fountain shows, water activations, lawn districts, and other shaded gathering spaces are conscious efforts to make Miramar Cove a place where consumers visit repeatedly, keeping the property active from morning to night.

“We are very focused on creating a comfortable, approachable urban community and town center for the business community in and around Miramar, for the residents nearby, for the residents that will live at the project, and for local, domestic and international visitors,” says Bry. 

With a well-capitalized development plan, Sunbeam is planning to deliver Miramar Cove in two phases that will be quickly paced. The first phase will see most of the project open at once.

“We want to have a critical mass of retail and restaurant space from day one of this project to serve the tens of thousands of people who live and work in West Broward and Northwest Miami-Dade and the thousands of people who attend sports games and all sorts of shows at the nearby Hard Rock Stadium,” says Bry. “The Blue Mar Basin, the two fountain shows and three multifamily buildings will open simultaneously. That equates to about 1,050 multifamily units that we plan to open at once.”

Approximately 250,000 square feet of retail space will be built as part of Phase I. Sunbeam plans to have at least 125,000 square feet of that open when the first residents move in, with plans for more to have a rolling opening shortly thereafter. Leasing efforts for the retail space have been underway for some time and, since space is tight in the market, Bry says that interest has been substantial.

“The sell to our soft goods retailers is who the entertainment anchor will be and who our restaurants are,” says Bry. “We plan to be very family-oriented with much of the retail focused on women and children. Because we have an active community on-site, some of the retail will be focused on daily needs, like a bank, health and wellness and some services.”

Most importantly, Miramar Cove, despite its expansive size, will be a walkable town center. The project will have two large lawn areas that it will activate with a full calendar of events throughout the year. Watch parties and movie nights are among the activations that Miramar Cove has envisioned for the lawn areas. The two main lawns and other green space combine to create more than 40 acres of park space within the project. There will also be more than five miles of walkable trails, including a continuous two-mile loop that will go around the perimeter of the project. A 25-acre wetlands conservation area that will add future walking trails is planned in the second phase. 

Sunbeam, along with the architects and designers, has envisioned a community that is livable, with a lifestyle that integrates housing, retail, office and recreation. In addition, residents will have access to an activities club, which allows them access to a private beach club on the cove, health clubs, pickleball, tennis and other activities throughout Miramar Cove. The location of Miramar Cove is designed to be within reach of many, providing housing near employment opportunities, parks and open space, dining options, retail, services and walkability. The adjacent Miramar Park of Commerce has more than 165 companies with more than 15,000 employees. Hard Rock Stadium, home to the Miami Dolphins and the University of Miami’s Miami Hurricanes — and host of major events including the Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix and matches in this summer’s FIFA World Cup — is less than 10 minutes away. Because of that, Sunbeam is also planning to have activations on days when events are taking place at the stadium to capture visitors before and after concerts and games.

“We consider Hard Rock Stadium a draw to our project,” says Bry. “Miramar Cove can extend visitors’ stays in the area after events. In essence, the project will be an extension of the region’s entertainment corridor.”

Because Sunbeam has been active in Miramar for such a long period of time, it knows the market well. In addition to the 145,000 surrounding residents, it also knows there is a daytime audience for Miramar Cove at the office/industrial parks that are adjacent to the center. It is planning to run a shuttle during the daytime between those facilities and Miramar Cove. There are also express buses to Miami and Ft. Lauderdale adjacent to the north of the project that residents can take advantage of.

“We plan to create a true destination that we believe will become well known in the marketplace to draw people from all over South Florida,” says Bry. “With fountain shows and water features unlike anything currently available in South Florida, Miramar Cove will give families, couples and visitors of all ages a place to gather, connect and create lasting memories. At its heart, this will be a welcoming, family-focused destination for the entire region.”

— Randall Shearin

This article was originally published in the August 2026 issue of Shopping Center Business magazine.