"Something is coming to Miami that will help shape its future," the
video promises as white letters expand on a dark black background.
And "massive" hardly cuts it: the 1,800-room Marriott hotel would
become the largest in South Florida, topping a 600,000-square-foot
convention center that features a 1,500-seat theater and a sprawling
garage with two floors underground.
The glass-clad hotel tower features cascading, spilling "arms that
reach out to the multitude of activities within the vicinity," according
to the narrator, including AmericanAirlines Arena, museums, and the
Port of Miami, all within blocks.
Developers MDM Group plan to raise financing for the project privately,
according to the Miami Herald
-- a cost which could handily top $1 billion, NBWS' John Nichols told
the paper. But as the project sits in the Overtown/Park West Community
Redevelopment Agency, it may also qualify for certain public money to
improve infrastructure within its footprint.
"As a structural piece, the tower has no backside," the video notes,
"welcoming visitors approaching from all directions and all forms of
transportation."
That includes the planned nearby station for the Florida East Coast
Railroad, so at least we're reminded we'll soon be able to take
high-speed rail to Tampa, Orlando, and Jacksonville -- even if we can't
take Metrorail to Midtown.
