Commercial Tax Base "West of Aventura"

As we saw in the first post, Aventura has an absolute "embarrassment of riches" when it comes to tax base, and it shows no signs of slowing down, with plans to expand Aventura Mall even further being considered.  

How about us, "West of Aventura"?  One of the big arguments against incorporating is that the largely residential community lacks enough commercial tax base infrastructure to make a new city Viable.  In this post, I investigate.

The Shops at Skylake are within our proposed boundaries:

284,204 sf: major tenants include Publix, LA Fitness and McDonald's

At a meeting of the NE MAC it was disclosed that North Miami Beach may be working to annex the Shops at Skylake into ITS boundaries, giving the MAC a reason to move quickly to a vote on incorporation.  In my interview with a Senior Executive at Equity One (owner of the Shops at Skylake), this rumor was denied: Equity One is not aware of any efforts by NMB to annex the mall [this blog is independent of rhetoric from BOTH sides of the debate; independant, and focused on uncovering and publishing facts].


So that's one significant commercial presence in the area.  Not much, but there is more to come, and its already starting to happen on the undeveloped area next to the Railroad tracks on West Dixie Highway.  Here is what the area looks like today:

[source: Tri-Rail Coastal Link Station Area Opportunities Report, April 2013].

And here is what that area could look like in the future:

Development in that area has already begun, with a sign up (and a flyer in my mailbox) for the Beacon Tower:

Note that it says "coming soon to Aventura".

The tower is slated for construction right next to the Ives Dairy overpass to US1, as illustrated in this picture [source: www.beacontoweraventura.com]:

I am excited to see the former trailer parks potentially converted to a usable** commuter rail station and mixed use development, but I'm concerned that this development (and all the development to come) is happening without any input from those of us living here, "West of Aventura".   

So while my interviews of "anti-incorporation" residents is focused on saving homes and condominiums from re-development, I feel like the decisions being made NOW are happening without ANY input, by people in downtown Miami who have little concern for our thoughts and community.  More analysis of the "NO to incorporation" perspective in my next post.

**note: the current mass-transportation infrastructure in Miami is shameful, with tri-rail operating away from homes, and cargo trains rumbling through our neighborhood of residences day and night.  The result is a city completely dependent on cars, with the resulting pollution and emissions.  So yes, I do welcome a commuter rail station where commuters can actually USE it, and which will hopefully operate at sensible hours and not at all hours, which is the case presently.  If designed properly, the station could also alleviate congestion from workers at the mall, on our "arterial" roads including Ives Dairy, but as I say: development should have our input!