With its initial ideas to erect a 5,200 room casino resort on the remains of the demolished historic Miami Herald headquarters having been shot down by local legislators, the Genting Group has scaled back its grander plans in lieu of a more modest luxury hotel and pair of condo towers. And while plans still call for the destruction of the old Herald headquarters, the new proposal calls for a fewer than 500-room luxury hotel with no more than 100,000 square feet of commercial space and two towers with several hundred residential units. Genting currently expects to sign an agreement by the end of the year for at least a four-star branded hotel while marketing is also going to begin for the sale of the luxury condos.

According to Genting’s senior vice president of development Bill Thompson, the company has decided to “…go with a phased approach. That seems to be more conducive with what’s acceptable in Miami. You start out with the waterfront property and that improves the value across everything else. Then you stay fluid based on what’s happening in the marketplace.”

After all relevant deals have been struck, demolition of the nearly 14 acre bay front site of the headquarters building will “herald” the commencement of construction. The trio of towers will line a 50-foot wide promenade Genting’s own Resorts World Miami project and Miami’s museum development project Museum Park. The promenade is also scheduled to include a handful of restaurants overlooking Biscayne Bay accessible to pedestrians via a boardwalk from under the I-395 overpass out into the bay.

Renderings of Genting:

Image Credit: miamiherald.com