World Trade Center developer financing legacy Miami, first COVID-conscious, pandemic-ready skyscraper
NY Real Estate Giant Expands to Florida | California’s Adventist Health & French Accor Hotels Also Part of Deal
CEO & President Interviews Available
Click Here: B-Roll & Bites | | Project Images | SOT Transcripts Below
The developer of New York’s World Trade Center complex – Silverstein Capital Partners – is now financing construction of the world’s first COVID-Conscious designed and Pandemic Ready residential, hotel, and medical center skyscraper at the massive Miami Worldcenter project in downtown Miami.
The 55-story, 671-foot-tall, half-billion-dollar Legacy Residences, Hotel and Medical Tower at Miami Worldcenter is being built by the Miami-based Royal Palm Companies development firm.
The $4-billion, 27-acre Miami Worldcenter is currently America’s largest urban core construction project and the nation’s second-largest mixed-use real estate development.
RPC says Legacy is being designed with the most-advanced germ-zapping technologies and will be the first all-in-one residential, hospitality and health and well-being facility in the world, according to Royal Palm Companies CEO, Daniel Kodsi (Cod-See)
(More Information About COVID-Conscious Tech Below)
Whopping Loan: Funding in Florida
Royal Palm Companies has just-closed on an unprecedented $340-million construction loan from New York City-based Silverstein Capital Partners for the building of the Legacy Tower.
This is the third-largest construction loan ever in the State of Florida, according to Royal Palm Companies.
This is the first time that Silverstein, best-known for the redevelopment of the World Trade Center after the 9-11 terrorist attacks, has issued a loan in Florida, according to president Michael May.
Silverstein has built scores of prestigious landmark projects across America.
“Legacy is a world class project that redefines wellness and hospitality,” says May. “This loan fits our firm’s strategy of writing large loans on complicated developments with creative financial structuring.”
Royal Palm Companies’ Kodsi emphasizes, “Silverstein’s projects transform neighborhoods. Issuing one of the largest loans in Miami history is reflective of the potential of this project.”
Kodsi, one of South Florida’s preeminent visionary developers, adds, “Since pandemic-related global travel restrictions have been lifted, the Miami market is incredibly hot. Valuations are soaring and international and domestic sales are surging, which places Legacy at the top-of-the-list of South Florida’s sizzling properties.”
Kodsi has built scores of major real estate projects in Florida, including downtown Miami’s soaring signature Paramount Miami Worldcenter skyscraper.
Adventist Health & Accor Hotels
The Legacy Tower is the result of a unique joint-venture involving California-based Adventist Health, one of the nation’s largest not-for-profit hospital and healthcare systems; Blue Zones, the globally-acclaimed human longevity research organization; Accor Hotels, one of the world’s leading hospitality companies; and Miami-based Royal Palm Companies – one of Florida’s preeminent luxury real estate developers.
Adventist Health operates more than 500 hospitals and healthcare facilities in California, Hawaii, Oregon and Washington communities.
This will be Adventist Health’s first venture on the eastern seaboard.
Accor Hotels, based in France, operates 3,700 properties in 100 countries.
City of the Future
The Miami Worldcenter project is the “Magic City’s” new residential, retail, restaurant, hospitality, entertainment and transportation complex.
It is described as, “The City within the City of the Future.”
Legacy Tower Groundbreaking
Foundation construction is currently underway on the Legacy Tower.
Concrete pouring and the start of vertical construction are expected during the first quarter of 2022.
The building is expected to be completed in early 2025.
Residential, Hotel & Medical Center Tower
The Legacy Tower will feature 310 high-rise residences and 219 hotel rooms.
The first 10-floors of the building will feature a $100-million, 120,000 square-foot, only-one-of-its-kind, state-of-the-art, health and well-being medical center.
COVID-Conscious & Pandemic Ready
Legacy will include on-site physicians, ventilators, pharmacy, diagnostic laboratory, imaging center and other medical services never-before available in a residential environment.
Anti-Viral Technologies
Royal Palm Companies says Legacy will also be equipped with the latest coronavirus-disinfecting technologies, including hospital-grade ventilation systems, a fleet of Xenex LightStrike germ-zapping UV ray robots, facial recognition and touchless entry devices; and high-tech water purifiers – all proven to help prevent the spread of viruses and other pathogens.
Medical Emergency
Moreover, in the event of a future public health emergency, people living in the condo-tower and hotel guests will be just an elevator ride away from medical attention, says Kodsi.
SOT: Daniel Kodsi, CEO, Royal Palm Companies | TC: 02:49 – 03:03
“What’s unique about Legacy, it was designed with a COVID-conscious lifestyle in mind. Here, you have a medical wellness center combined with a hotel, residences, all in one tower. This is, in essence, pandemic ready. One day in the future you could shelter in place right in the building.”
Construction Start in Wake of Condo-Collapse
The August 2021 ground breaking is the first at the Miami Worldcenter since the start of the pandemic and the first in Florida since the Champlain Towers condo-collapse in nearby Surfside, Fla., in June 2021.
Daniel Kodsi, CEO, Royal Palm Companies | 03:25 – 03:54
“Miami’s a high real-estate market today. Some challenges. Our buyers have questions about structural integrity since the Surfside building collapse, or the ongoing pandemic. At Legacy Hotel and Residences, we responded to that. We talk about structural integrity and technology and how it’s changed in the past 40 years. We looked at the pandemic and creating a COVID-conscious lifestyle building for the future.”
The pandemic and the Surfside catastrophe have heightened buyer awareness of the need for sanitary environments and structural integrity of high-rise condominiums, according to architect Kobi Karp.
SOT: Kobi Karp, Architect | TC: 05:21 – 05:36
“The vertical circulation, the elevators, the staircases, are encased in reinforced concrete, and they move all the way down to the base of the building, and that is the spine of the building, and the slabs, which are your concrete post tension, are the strength of the building.”
Jobs
Miami Worldcenter has employed more than 15,000 new construction workers, since its 2015 groundbreaking.
An additional 2,500 workers will be involved in building Legacy, according to Kodsi.
In a public-private sector agreement, an estimated one-third of the Legacy construction workforce will be composed of unskilled residents of nearby Miami area neighborhoods with some of the nation’s highest unemployment rates.
Those people will be offered on-the-job training and paid at least 50 percent more than the state’s $10 per hour minimum wage.
Legacy COVID-Conscious Technologies & Amenities
- Advanced Hospital-Grade & Ultraviolet Ray Residential Disinfecting Ventilation Systems.
- Advanced Water Purification Systems.
- Fleet of Xenex UV Ray Disinfection Robots.
- Food & Beverage Service.
- Medical Gases.
- On-Call & On-Site Physicians and Medical Staff.
- Robotic Automobile Parking Garage.
- Touchless & Facial Recognition Entry Systems.
- Ventilators.
- Voice-Activated Elevators.
Legacy Health & Performance Highlights
- First-of-its-kind Diagnostic Lab Testing Suite for Preemptive Health Evaluations.
- Medically Equipped Hotel Rooms for Post-Surgical Patients.
- MRI, CT Scans, Mammography, X-Ray and Ultrasound Imaging Facilities.
- On-Site Laboratory for Speedy Results.
- On-Site & On-Call Physicians, Nurses, Technicians, Nutritionists, Therapists, and More.
- On-Site Pharmacy & Dispensary.
- Surgery Rooms.
Legacy Luxury Amenities
- Cantilever-Shaped Rooftop Infinity Pool & Glass-Enclosed Atrium.
- Downtown Miami’s Largest Hotel Swimming Pool.
- Urban Deck: One-Acre.
- 219 Hotel Rooms.
- 310 MicroLuxe Residences.
- Lounges, Restaurants, Shops, Spa.
- Prices Start at $300K.
- Legacy is Slated for Completion in 2024.
About Miami Worldcenter
- Miami’s New Residential, Retail, Office, Dining, Hospitality, Entertainment and Transportation Complex.
- Composed of 11 Residential and Office Towers.
- Two Residential Building are Completed and Occupied.
- Two Structures are Nearing Completion.
- Legacy and the Nativo Condo-Tel are now Breaking Ground.
- Several Hotels, Retail Stores, Shops.
- 10 City Blocks-Long, 27 Acres.
- New York’s Hudson Yards, the Nation’s Largest Urban Core Real Estate Development is 28 Acres.
- Comparatively, Rockefeller Center, Built in 1932, is 22-Acres.
- Surrounded by the FTX (formerly American Airlines) Arena, Miami’s Performing Arts Center and Museum Park.
- Five Miles East is Miami Beach.
- Five Miles West is Miami International Airport.
- A Half-Mile Southeast is the Miami Cruise Ship Port.
- Adjacent is the Brightline high-speed, intrastate railway terminal.
- America’s only Privately-Owned and Operated Passenger Train System.
- Brightline provides services between Miami, Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach and, next year, Orlando.
Full Soundbite Transcripts
Daniel Kodsi, CEO, Royal Palm Companies | 01: 21 – 02:04
Today we’re breaking ground on the Legacy Miami World Center. Uh, this was a project, uh, that was actually designed, uh, during the pandemic, and so we had to revisit it, and we looked at it from a COVID-conscious lifestyle. You know? What’s gonna happen in the future? The future may have more pandemics. Uh, so we looked at everything. We looked at our ventilation systems. Uh, we looked at, uh, voice activation, touchless technology, antimicrobial material. We even looked at, uh, um, you know, the Xenex robot that kills bacteria throughout. So, this is a project, one day in future pandemics, you may be able to shelter-in-place. Imagine having a resident or hotel where you’re an elevator ride away, uh, from- from doctors, from, uh, pharmacies, you can even have room service.”
Daniel Kodsi, CEO, Royal Palm Companies | 02: 06 – 02:30
“Miami World Center is a 27-acre, mixed-use development here in the heart of downtown Miami. It has five blocks of pedestrian walkways. It encompasses 10 city blocks, a mix of hospitality, residential, ground-floor retail, office buildings, and it’s connected to all of Miami’s amenities, the arena, the museum, parks, performing arts center, and the major transportation complex, Bright Line, that connects you to the rest of the state of Florida.”
Daniel Kodsi, CEO, Royal Palm Companies | 02:32 – 02:46
“The significance of Miami World Center is it really fills a hole in a donut in the city of Miami. It’s an urban core right in the center. It connects the financial district, downtown, all the major transportation. It’s really, in essence, a city within a city.
Daniel Kodsi, CEO, Royal Palm Companies | 02:48 – 03:03
“What’s unique about Legacy, it was designed with a COVID-conscious lifestyle in mind. Here, you have a medical wellness center combined with a hotel, residences, all in one tower. This is, in essence, pandemic ready. One day in the future you could shelter in place right in the building.”
Daniel Kodsi, CEO, Royal Palm Companies | 03:06 – 03:23
“Legacy features these COVID-conscious materials and technologies, for instance, hospital-grade ventilation systems throughout, UV robots, touchless technology, voice-activated technology, water filtration system, and even antimicrobial material on all the furniture throughout the project.”
Daniel Kodsi, CEO, Royal Palm Companies | 03:25 – 03:54
“Miami’s a high real-estate market today. Some challenges. Our buyers have questions about structural integrity since the Surfside building collapse, or the ongoing pandemic. At Legacy Hotel and Residences, we responded to that. We talk about structural integrity and technology and how it’s changed in the past 40 years. We looked at the pandemic and creating a COVID-conscious lifestyle building for the future.”
Kobi Karp, Architect | 04:01 – 04:25
“The indoor and the outdoor spaces are harmonious and they flow together. What’s interesting is that, as this pandemic came around, COVID, we saw that these kind of designs became more progressive, yet this whole building was designed about health, wellness, well adjusting, not only physical, but also mental, sociological. How do people come together?”
Kobi Karp, Architect | 04:27 – 04:47
“We have technology that allows us to have safe mechanical systems that we can put into the lungs of the air conditioning system, special units of light, and that will allow us to have a very clear filtration system of breathing air for the people who inhabit the building.”
Kobi Karp, Architect | 04:50 – 05:03
“In the aftermath of the Surfside building collapse, the design of 1981 versus the design of 2021, it is a completely different structural design, mean, and methodology.”
Kobi Karp, Architect | 05:05 – 05:18
“This building is designed to meet the design criteria, the Florida building code, post-Hurricane Andrew. After Hurricane Andrew, we have completely revamped the design, the structural design of our buildings.”
Kobi Karp, Architect | 05:21 – 05:36
“The vertical circulation, the elevators, the staircases, are encased in reinforced concrete, and they move all the way down to the base of the building, and that is the spine of the building, and the slabs, which are your concrete post tension, are the strength of the building.”
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