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Business Florida 2016 - The Regions
Southeast Florida
QUALITY OF LIFE
World-class attractions Bask in the sun at Hollywood Beach or South Beach; both are named among TripAdvisor’s “Top 25 U.S. Beaches.” Shop ‘til you drop for designer togs in Miami-Dade’s Bal Harbour or along Worth Avenue in Palm Beach, or for bargains at Sawgrass Mills in Sunrise, adding another 30 luxury outlets this year. Browse the works of Latin American and Caribbean artists at Pérez Art Museum Miami, the Florida Highwaymen collection at the A. E. Backus Museum & Gallery in Fort Pierce or eclectic creations at the funky galleries along Duval Street in Key West. Southeast Florida is packed with things to see and do.
Exceptional specialty healthcare For the 12th straight year, University of Miami’s Bascom Palmer Eye Institute has been named the nation’s No. 1 hospital for ophthalmology on U.S. News & World Report’s 2015 list of “America’s Best Hospitals.” Additionally, three Southeast children’s hospitals — Holtz Children’s Hospital at the University of Miami/Jackson Memorial Medical Center, Miami Children’s Hospital and Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital at Memorial Medical Center in Hollywood — were named among the nation’s top 50 “Best Children’s Hospitals 2015-16” in at least three pediatric specialties each.
Educational achievement Eighteen Southeast Florida high schools earned gold medals in U.S. News & World Report’s “2015 Best High Schools” rankings; seven of them were among the top 75 high schools nationwide. This region is also home to nearly 20 not-for-profit institutions of higher education, including the University of Miami, site of the UM Life Science & Technology Park, the nation’s second largest Health District; Florida International University, partnering with Florida Power & Light Company on a commercial-scale, distributed solar power facility; and Keiser University, which in 2014 opened its first residential campus in West Palm Beach.
Downtown Miami Transformed
In 2000, greater downtown Miami comprised 11% of the city’s population; today, it’s nearly one-fifth. Downtown Miami is bustling with potential, and developers are taking notice. Three massive projects destined to transform the city’s urban core are currently in the works:
Miami Worldcenter In 2014, Miami’s city commissioners unanimously approved plans for this 15-million-sq.-ft. project that is slated to include an 1,800-room hotel conference center, residential towers and more than 800,000 square feet of retail space anchored by Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s.
Brickell City Centre Construction activity on this 5-million-sq.-ft. mixed-use development slowed during the recession, but has come to life again as some 500,000 square feet of luxury retail space, a hotel, two class-A office buildings and two 43-story condominium towers totaling 780 units take shape along the Miami River.
MiamiCentral Now that All Aboard Florida, the privately financed passenger-rail service from Miami to Orlando, is becoming a reality, plans are in the works for a 3-million-sq.-ft. combination commercial, retail and residential multimodal station complex downtown.
NOTABLE ADDITIONS/EXPANSIONS
Logistics/distribution Online retailer Amazon opened a sorting center with 300 employees in Doral in October 2014. One of 15 such centers nationwide, the 335,841-sq.-ft. facility processes orders from Amazon’s fulfillment centers for final delivery to customers.
Business services Sitel has opened a new call center in Pompano Beach with 350 employees and plans to hire another 750 to support the customer service operations of a large financial services institution. Nashville-based Sitel is among the world’s leading providers of outsourced customer service.
Life sciences Biopharmaceutical firm Sancilio & Company is expanding in Riviera Beach, adding 275 jobs. The firm, which develops and manufactures branded prescription, over-the-counter and generic prescription pharmaceutical products, was named a 2015 “Manufacturer of the Year” by the South Florida Manufacturers Association.
Aquaculture Construction is underway in Indiantown on Fresh Shrimp USA, a facility that, when fully operational in 2016, will employ 60 and produce an estimated 100,000 pounds of organic shrimp in its first year.
