Downtown Doral's condo sales closing, restaurants and retail opening

A rendering of Downtown Doral's retail portion and Armando Codina

Downtown Doral, the Codina Partners mixed-use project, has completed its first condominium tower and is building its second, as its restaurants and retail stores prepare to open soon.

The first condo building, 5252 Paseo, is 100 percent sold out, and 180 of 203 units have already closed, Codina Partners' Executive Chairman Armando Codina told The Real Deal. Prices for the units ranged from $300,000 to $800,000, with the average price per square foot at $375, he said. More than 40 percent of the units at the building were sold to Venezuelans.

The property was designed by Sieger Suarez Architects, with interiors by Adriana Hoyos. A recent tour of the building revealed such amenities as a fitness room, children's playroom and a huge pool deck with an infinity edge pool.

"It's quality that has never been seen in Doral. It's like the finer buildings on Brickell or in Miami Beach," Codina said of the tower at 5252 Northwest 52nd Street, which will hold a grand opening event Feb. 25.

Next, the development's retail and restaurants will launch. By the end of this month, Stellino's, an Italian restaurant, will open, Codina said, with other restaurants will open in March and April, including Bulla Gastrobar, Dragonfly, Pisco y Nazca, Freddo, Pasion del Cielo, Giardino's Gourmet Salad, Las Vegas Cuban and Huahua's Taqueria.

The restaurants and retail will line Main Street and Northwest 87th Avenue, as a centerpiece of the $1 billion project that includes a city hall, charter school, townhomes and eventually, eight condo towers. When completed, Downtown Doral will have a total of 70 retail stores and restaurants; more than 1 million square feet of commercial space; 400,000 square feet of Class A office space and 2,840 residential units.

The project is part of the transformation of Doral, which is booming with new construction. In addition to Downtown Doral, other projects include Shoma and the Related Group's mixed-use project CityPlace Doral and Sergio Pino's mixed-use development, Midtown Doral.

Codina said that more than 90 percent of the first phase of 80,000 square feet of retail space in Downtown Doral has been leased, which includes 40,000 square feet of restaurant space. Another 40,000 square feet of retail will be part of phase 2, which will soon start to sign leases. Construction on phase 2 is expected to begin May 1.

A "large supermarket" of 50,000 square feet is also planned, but has not yet signed a lease, Codina said.

Stores opening this spring as part of phase 1 include: Skyros, Marilyn Monroe Spas, Ballet Boutique, UPS Store, Elite Power Nutrition, Premium Wine & Spirits by Mega, GDB Fashions, Cattiva Boutique, AT&T, OXXO Care Cleaners and Casa Gio. Continental Bank and Fortune International Realty will also have space downtown.

As the next step, a second condo tower, 5300 Paseo, with 219 units, is now under construction, and is 75 percent sold, Codina said. It will be completed by the end of the year. Prices average $400 per square foot, he said.

A third condo tower will be announced "in the near future," Codina said.

Housing demand has increased in Doral, Robert Given, vice chairman of investment sales for CBRE recently told TRD. "The Doral submarket is a very dynamic market in this real estate cycle," he said.

"The product speaks for itself, the fact that the first phase of retail is fully leased, and the first building sold out completely and the second building sold over 75 percent," Codina told TRD. "I think we have established a market in Doral that has never been seen before... I think we are establishing a real core downtown."