Miami-Dade Economic Assessment

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Economic Assessment

Florida International University’s Miami Urban Future Initiative examined metro Miami’s ability to attract and grow major companies after the Amazon HQ2 competition. Its report, “Miami After HQ2: Why and How the Region Must Grow Its Own Amazons,” shared what the researchers believe is the data most relevant to doing so. A few highlights:

Standouts

• Clusters: The metro’s employment in legal occupations is 75% above the national average, health care is 8% above the national average. Business and financial management employment is 6% above.
• No. 2: Miami’s rank in the U.S. for share of foreign-born residents with a bachelor’s degree or higher. Only San Jose/Silicon Valley ranks higher.
• 340,000: Number of college students in the metro area (ninth-largest “college town” in the U.S.)
• 67%: Percent who attend college in metro Miami and stay in the area, No. 16 among 53 large U.S. metros.
• No. 24: Rank for research spending among large metros.

Venture Capital

• $850 million: Value of the more than 100 venture capital deals in the metro Miami annually
• $255 million: Value of the 25 VC deals a decade ago
• No. 31: Metro Miami’s rank among the world’s 300 global startup cities for deal value

Talent Base

• No. 41: Miami’s rank among 53 large metros in the percentage of adults with at least a bachelor’s degree — 31% vs. 30.9% nationally
• No. 49: The city’s “creative class” rank — including high-skill, high-wage workers such as scientists, technologists, professionals, managers, artists, designers and cultural creatives, about a third of the region’s workforce

Forecast

• The mega-region that stretches to Orlando and Tampa will include 15 million people and $750 billion in economic output — comparable in size to the Netherlands.

HEALTH CARE

• Baptist Health South Florida is one of 12 health care systems that are founding members of Civica Rx, a Salt Lake City-based non-profit generic pharmaceutical company that will focus on medications in short supply.
• Baptist also purchased a 2.8-acre site in Coral Gables for a reported $37 million, although it has not yet decided how it will use the site.
• Mount Sinai Medical Center finished a $275-million, 350,000-sq.-ft. expansion of its Miami Beach hospital.
• The Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network/United Network for Organ Sharing ranked the Jackson Health System/ UHealth Miami Transplant Institute, which performed 681 transplants in 2018, the second-largest transplant center in the U.S.
• The FDA approved Opko Health’s finger-stick test for prostate-specific antigen, although the company’s 4Kscore test for determining the risk level for aggressive prostate cancer received a determination that will prevent many public health care systems from covering it. The company is appealing the determination.

TOURISM

• Airbnb is suing Miami Beach, arguing the city’s ban on short-term rentals (anything less than six months and one day) in single-family homes and most multifamily buildings and its related requirements are an illegal infringement on Airbnb’s rights.
• MSC Cruises will build and operate two new cruise terminals at PortMiami, where it will homeport several of its new ships; the company projects it will raise its annual passenger count at the port from 1.8 million to 5 million by 2026.
• An affiliate of London-based real estate firm London + Regional purchased the 281-room Pullman Miami Airport Hotel for $48.7 million.
• The JW Marriott Miami Turnberry Resort & Spa in Aventura opened Tidal Cove, a water park accessible only to resort guests and country club members. It includes a 60-foot tower with seven water slides, a 4,000-sq.-ft. kids pool, a surf simulation pool and other attractions.
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  Tags: Miami-Dade, Feature