Venture capitalist Bob Zangrillo has revived plans for his Magic City Innovation District with a new $3B price tag.
The 7.8M SF master plan for Miami's Little Haiti neighborhood will center around an office complex built for artificial intelligence tenants, along with asset management and venture capital companies, Zangrillo told Bloomberg. His investment firm, Dragon Global, will anchor the campus.
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The development, which will be built in partnership with Plaza Equity Partners, also includes plans for a commuter rail station, 2,600 apartments, a hotel and retail space. Archer Aviation also tapped Dragon Global to develop a vertiport site in the district for its fleet of air taxis, which is expected to begin testing this year.
“We really envision this being a campus to match both leading AI companies with leading asset management firms and building an evolved community,” Zangrillo told Bloomberg.
The project’s first phase involves the construction of office space and a 25-story tower called Sixty Uptown with 349 rental units.
Newmark’s Anthony Orso will lead marketing efforts for the district, according to Bloomberg.
The site, which is in one of the fastest-gentrifying areas of Miami, has a special area plan designation, which enables the construction of large-scale projects, and is in a federal opportunity zone, allowing investors to secure tax breaks on capital gains for backing the project.
Zangrillo first revealed plans for the project in 2012 and spent the following five years piecing together the assemblage. In 2019, he received approval from the Miami City Commission.
Back then, plans for the project called for 2,630 residential units, 432 hotel rooms, 2M SF of office space, 350K SF of retail, and 4 acres of public open space. It had an estimated cost of $1B.
The Magic City Innovation District now seeks to capitalize on the wave of AI firms opening or expanding offices in Miami. Tech companies accounted for 37% of the 918K SF of office leases signed in the first quarter, according to a report by Avison Young.
“I had a vision about 14 years ago that Miami was going to be the capital, or the future New York City, for technology companies and asset managers from around the world to converge,” Zangrillo said.
The project stalled when Zangrillo got caught up in the college admissions scandal known as Operation Varsity Blues. After his daughter was rejected from the University of Southern California, Zangrillo allegedly bribed school officials and paid an employee to take classes on her behalf to increase her chances of being admitted.
Zangrillo was arrested in March 2019 and charged with fraud. He pleaded not guilty, then was pardoned by President Donald Trump in 2021 before he was set to stand trial.
Little Haiti residents and community activists fought back against the project due to fears of gentrification and displacement. As a result, MCID’s developers agreed to give $31M to the Little Haiti Revitalization Trust over the next 30 years, $6M of which has already been donated.
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