MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. – A groundbreaking ceremony was held Monday at the future City Center in Miami Gardens, which will soon be a place where people can live, work and play right in the heart of the city.
“So many things had to happen, but I kept working on it the entire time. I was there eight years and I’ve been working with the city since I’ve been a county commissioner, because I understand that Miami Gardens deserves a place where their residents can go get nice restaurants, entertainment and they don’t have to leave their city,” Miami-Dade County Commission Chairman and former Miami Gardens Mayor Oliver Gilbert said.
It’s a project that will push the community of Miami Gardens forward.
Monday was a big step as city leaders and community members gathered for the groundbreaking ceremony of an idea and a dream that now becomes a reality.
“Put the dream in place, and now it is going to help beautify Miami Gardens and make Miami Gardens one of the most prestigious cities in the whole United States,” Miami Gardens Mayor Rodney Harris said.
The new City Center will be a place for job opportunities and a center where people want to be.
“It’s something that our residents asked for years ago -- they talked about having a place in their city that they can come and go to for entertainment instead of leaving outside,” Harris said.
Miami Gardens City Center will have the world’s first Formula One museum and will overlook Hard Rock Stadium.
“These developers, when I talked to them about our city and I said, ‘Hey, listen, I don’t want just any old thing. I want something that’s epic, I want something that’s a landmark, I want something that’s transformative, because the people in this community deserve it,” Gilbert said.
Owner and developer Pascal Cohen says he understands the assignment.
“Three hundred thousand-square-feet of entertainment, restaurants, we have 520 residential units, we have two hotels, 350 rooms, and more and more and more entertainment centers,” he said, adding “We have a residency 50,000-square-foot dinner show.”
A construction fair will be held to connect residents in the area with job opportunities on the project.
That will happen at 10 a.m. on July 30 at the Betty T. Ferguson Recreational Complex.