Chug’s Express at Miami Worldcenter Opening Monday, January 16, 2023
Chug’s Express will officially open on Monday, January 16th at Miami Worldcenter! For your morning coffee and some items to-go, stop by Chug’s Express, which is open from 8:00 am to 3:00 pm at the Caoba building at 698 NE 1st Ave in Miami, Florida 33132. Favorites from Chug’s Diner including croquetas, pastelitos, and coffee will be available at the Chug’s Express “ventanita.”
Breakfast Sandwiches
Sausage, egg & cheese house-made pork sausage, American cheese, scrambled egg, mayo
Chug’s Express is owned and operated by the Ariete Hospitality Group. Ariete Hospitality Group extends beyond excellence in cuisine, drink, and hospitality. They are dedicated to elevating the bar for dining in Miami and demonstrating to the world that the city is capable of providing top-notch dining experiences with every concept.
The staff is led by Executive Chef and Owner Michael Beltrán, a native of Little Havana who later trained with Miami’s greatest chefs before launching AHG’s flagship restaurant, Ariete. AHG’s Ariete has been recognized with a 2022 MICHELIN guide star for Chef Beltran’s, who has twice been nominated as a semifinalist for the James Beard Award for Best Chef: South and a 2021 StarChefs Rising Star.
Chef Beltran’s interpretation of a Cuban-American diner, Chug’s Diner, has also been recognized with a 2022 MICHELIN guide Bib Gourmand. This enterprise is personal for Chef Beltran and the staff who have embraced the vision for Miami.
Miami Worldcenter Completes Construction on 255,000 Square Feet of Retail Space
The Miami Worldcenter’s “Jewel Box,” which has a contemporary design and is enclosed in floor-to-ceiling glass, is situated at the intersection of the 7th Street Promenade and World Paseo open-air retail pedestrian streets, directly west of the development’s upcoming CitizenM boutique hotel and north of the finished luxury apartment tower Bezel Miami.
Approximately 255,000 square feet of retail space have now been finished at Miami Worldcenter with the completion of F-East as tenants actively finish out their spaces.
Another 80,000 square feet of lifestyle-focused retail space has been constructed by Miami Worldcenter’s developers. Block F-East, a standalone structure that is part of the $4 billion mixed-use complex in the center of Downtown Miami, is one of the last retail components of the 27-acre project to be completed.
Sephora, lululemon, Savage x Fenty, Ray-Ban, Posman Books, and Lucid Motors are among the impressive list of recently opened and upcoming tenants at Miami Worldcenter. Other dining and entertainment options include Bowlero, Sports & Social, Michelin-starred Chef Michael Beltran’s Brasserie Laurel, El Vecino, and Chicago’s Maple & Ash and Etta restaurants.
The 300,000 square feet of retail, restaurant, and entertainment space at Miami Worldcenter, one of the largest private urban real estate developments in Florida, will be complemented by a variety of residential, business, and hospitality applications.
Miami Worldcenter Associates, directed by Principal Art Falcone and Managing Partner Nitin Motwani, and CIM Group are the project’s master developers.
Three finished residential towers—the PARAMOUNT Miami Worldcenter, Caoba, and Bezel Miami—can now be found in Miami Worldcenter. The 351-room CitizenM hotel is now finished with construction and is scheduled to debut at Miami Worldcenter in the first quarter of 2023.
In addition, work is being done on phase one of the 52-story Miami World Towers, which will include 550 apartment units, Legacy Hotel & Residences, a mixed-use building with 310 branded residences atop a hotel and 50,000 square feet of medical office space, and Caoba’s second phase, which will include a nearby 40-story tower with 420 apartments.
There are several planned projects, including The Crosby, a 450-unit turn-key condominium by Related Group and Merrimac Ventures, and 600 Miami Worldcenter, a 579-unit fully furnished condominium by Aria Development Group and Merrimac Ventures, a mixed-use residential and commercial development by Abbhi Capital, a residential development by the New York-based Naftali Group, and a three-tower mixed-use project by The Witkoff Group that will have up to 2,000
World Square, a 20,000-square-foot outdoor public plaza and park, will complement Miami Worldcenter’s shopping streets. With its abundance of open space, shade trees, and spacious, pedestrian-friendly sidewalks lined with food, entertainment, and retail concepts, World Square is intended to act as the hub of the development.
A $5 million public art project at Miami Worldcenter, organized by the Miami-based curatorial collective PRIMARY and renowned art dealer Jeffrey Deitch, would turn the 27-acre “city within a citystreets “‘s and buildings into a permanent outdoor art museum. Large-scale murals, paintings, and sculptures produced by internationally renowned artists such as Nina Chanel Abney, Woody De Othello, Viktor El-Saieh, Nick Cave, Trenton Doyle Hancock, Hernan Bas, Serge Toussaint, Zadok Ben-David, and Franz Ackermann will be included in the program once it is finished.
Ten city blocks make up Miami Worldcenter, which is next to Museum Park, which is home to the Frost Museum of Science and Pérez Art Museum Miami, as well as the FTX Arena, Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts, and Wolfson Campus of Miami Dade College. Miami Worldcenter is the largest and best-connected transit-oriented development in Florida thanks to its proximity to Brightline’s MiamiCentral station, which provides direct train service to Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach, and Orlando and access to Tri-Rail, the Metromover, and the Metrorail.
Michelin Star and Miami Born Chef Officially Opens Brasserie Laurel at Miami Worldcenter
In the recently constructed Miami Worldcenter Caoba apartment tower in Downtown Miami, chef and restaurateur Michael Beltran has officially opened Brasserie Laurel, a French-focused eatery.
Escargot, frog legs, foie gras, deer tartare, beef Wellington, chicory salad, turbot in tomato beurre blanc, and Maine lobster with veal sweetbreads are just a few of the French classics on the menu at Laurel, which was devised by executive chef Ashley Moncada, a former chef de cuisine at Ariete.
Ashley Moncada, the new chef employed by Beltran at the establishment, trained at Ariete during the pandemic that has been going on for the past two years. Her first substantial project is this eatery.
“We see Laurel as Ariete’s younger sister. It’s a new approach to French brasserie food. Think Frank Sinatra, Dizzy Gillespie, La Tour d’Argent in Paris,” states Chef Beltran.
Tom Lasher-Walker, the restaurant’s beverage director, provides modernized versions of classic cocktails such the Beneath the Sheets, which is created with aged rum and pineapple, and the Corpse Reviver Royal, a late 19th-century concoction made with gin, bubbles, and absinthe. Speaking of absinthe, there is a fountain behind the bar at Laurel where it is readily available. A sizable selection of champagnes and wines in the French and Old World styles completes the menu.
The restaurant’s interior, which is housed inside the flashy Miami Worldcenter, maintains the French concept throughout with its use of deep blue, gold, and dark wood. Two additional Ariete Hospitality eateries, Chug’s Express and El Vecino, will also make their Miami Worldcenter debuts in the upcoming months next to Laurel.
Favorites from Chug’s Diner including croquetas, pastelitos, and coffee will be available at the Chug’s Express “ventanita.” El Vecino, on the other hand, will be an upscale cigar bar that offers a full alcohol menu along with light meals including mussels, a variety of meat and cheese, a greek burger, foie torchon, and a variety of snacks.
The Scapegoat in Miami Beach, the Taurus in Coconut Grove, Ariete, Nave, Chug’s, and most recently, the Gibson Room on Coral Way make up the Ariete Hospitality Group’s fast-expanding restaurant portfolio.
Downtown Miami’s Brasserie Laural can be found at 698 NE 1st Avenue. They are open from 5 p.m. to midnight on Friday and Saturday and from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. on Sunday through Thursday.
Aria Development and Merrimac Ventures Buy Miami Worldcenter Site for $17.5 Million for Proposed Condo Building
After purchasing a redevelopment site for $17.5 million, Aria Development Group and Merrimac Ventures have proposed a new Miami Worldcenter condominium building.
According to records, the joint venture paid the labor union $11 million to take over the former Miami headquarters of the International Longshoremen’s Association at 33-55 Northwest Sixth Street. According to a press statement, Aria and Merrimac also paid $6.5 million to acquire a neighboring unoccupied 1.2-acre site from a partner of Miami Worldcenter developers Art Falcone and Nitin Motwani.
The project calls for a 32-story skyscraper with about 600 fully furnished residential units with no limitations on short-term rentals with pricing starting at $395,000.
The final construction plot that was up for grabs in the Miami Worldcenter district was purchased by Fort Lauderdale-based Merrimac, led by Nitin and Dev Motwani, and Miami-based Aria, led by principal David Arditi, according to Mattingly.
Merrimac and The Related Group partnered earlier this year to pay $12 million for another Miami Worldcenter development plot at 601 North Miami Avenue, The Crosby, a 33-story, 450-unit condo tower that will also be accommodating to short-term rentals.
Miami Worldcenter, a $4 billion master-planned mixed-use city, is luring titans of the real estate sector to make investments in the area. For a property at 697 North Miami Avenue that was previously permitted for a 40-story, 429-unit skyscraper, a business connected to WeWork co-founder Adam Neumann received $108 million in construction financing in February. Neumann also owns the Caoba apartment complex, which is a nearby residence.
A.5-acre development site on Northwest 10th Street and North Miami Avenue was purchased by San Antonio-based Lynd Living in August for $30 million. Although a 650-unit apartment building is permitted on the plot, Lynd hasn’t made its official plans public.
One acre at 1016 Northeast Second Avenue, where the New York-based developer intends to construct a two-tower residential complex, was purchased by Naftali Group for $40.5 million a month later.
New Development Revealed at Miami Worldcenter-600 Miami Worldcenter
Aria Development Group and Merrimac Ventures are partnering for a new construction development located at Miami Worldcenter. The project has officially been dubbed 600 Miami Worldcenter.
600 Miami Worldcenter will rise 32 stories and will feature 579 fully furnished and finished luxury residences ranging from studios to two-bedroom floor plans with no rental restrictions. The studios will start at $400,000.
The Design Agency, a renowned design firm, was selected by the developers to design the residences at 600. The architect for the project is listed as Revuelta Architecture.
Residence Features:
Floor-to-ceiling glass windows with custom window treatment
All residences feature balconies
Finished flooring on all residential interiors
Kitchens and bathrooms feature custom Italian cabinetry and counters
Top-of-the-line, separate, in-unit washers, and dryers
Fully built-out, generous closets
Tower Amenities:
Covered porte-cochère
24-Hour attended lobby
Luxer one automated parcel storage
Dedicated co-working space
Resident lounge and entertaining space
Air-conditioned resident storage
Bike storage
Summer kitchen
Rooftop swimming pool with resort seating
World-class state-of-the-art fitness center with outdoor private training area by Homage Fitness
The 600 Miami Worldcenter will be within a few blocks from the 300,000+ square foot commercial district of Miami Worldcenter, situated in the Park West neighborhood of Miami at 600 NE 1st Ave.
Lululemon Buildout Begins at Miami Worldcenter
Construction on Block F West and World Square to the Right
The $4 billion and 300,000+ square foot multiple use development also known as Miami Worldcenter is ramping up construction. Miami Worldcenter is a vibrant location where you will soon be able to enjoy some of Miami’s finest foods, shopping, and entertainment! This new urban area is will be home to both national and local favorites as well as prestigious international companies.
One of the long-awaited retail locations is the glass cube known as Block F West, which is set to begin construction soon along with the World Square building. It is situated immediately west of Block F East also known as the “Jewelry Box”, which is now under construction and nearly completed.
Along with Sephora, Lucid Motors, and Bowlero, Lululemon is also expanding its retail chain to World Square with their space currently under construction.
These companies join other tenants that have already been revealed, such as Maple & Ash and Etta from Chicago which will both take up 2 stories of retail Space. According to Nitin Motwani, general partner of Miami Worldcenter Associates, these together with the most recent tenants have leased a total of around 90,000 square feet of retail space in the last 90 days.
According to Motwani, “On the heels of announcing an award-winning lineup of restaurant concepts slated to open at Miami Worldcenter, we are upping the ante with a trio of nationally and globally recognized lifestyle brands. These tenants exemplify the diversity we are offering throughout our residential, hospitality, and office developments across Miami, and bringing to life the retail components of Miami Worldcenter’s master plan is critical to transforming our 27-acre site into a thriving open-air destination.”
Lucid Motors is creating a multi-use building that will occupy almost 23,000 square feet. Bowlero will take up more than 31,000 square feet in the glass-enclosed “jewelry box” retail structure at Miami Worldcenter that looks out over the World Square plaza.
With the building permit issued in March 2022 for remodeling, Lululemon will occupy more than 6,000 square feet at the World Square plaza along Block H. The construction cost for Lululemon is an estimated $132,000 which will include remodeling and repairs.
Miami Worldcenter Welcomes Sports & Social-New Bar by Live! Hospitality and Entertainment
Miami Worldcenter and Live! Hospitality & Entertainment has a deal to bring its widely regarded Sports & Social concept to the $4 billion, 27-acre mixed-use development that is reshaping Downtown Miami.
Live! Entertainment’s premier dining, entertainment, sports viewing, and social concept is called Sports & Social. One of the biggest restaurant and entertainment concept creators and operators in the US is Hospitality & Entertainment. The company’s main goal is to build iconic venues near prestigious sports arenas, world-class resort casinos, and popular entertainment and lifestyle areas around the nation.
The Sports & Social Miami Worldcenter location will occupy about 20,000 square feet in the development’s glass-encased “Jewel Box” retail building and will feature an open-air third level and a rooftop restaurant overlooking the World Square public park and plaza. It will be situated just steps from Miami’s FTX Arena.
The establishment will provide sophisticated food and drink options, including made-from-scratch gameday favorites, handmade cocktails, and specialty drinks, like its iconic Crush selection, and a variety of beers from popular local and national beers. A number of special food-related events will be held at Sports & Social, including a brunch experience you won’t want to miss on Saturdays and Sundays that will feature its renowned #brunchtails table drinks and menu favorites like avocado toast, savory breakfast skillets, and its signature Chicken & Bliss.
Sports & Social in addition to offering some of the top sporting events in the area, Miami will host a range of live music performances and unique events throughout the week. With cutting-edge technology throughout, the venue will include a striking 53-foot LED display as its focal point, which will simultaneously stream different athletic events and games.
Additionally, visitors can take part in a variety of games like shuffleboard, Beirut, skeeball, foosball, pop-a-shot, and arcade games. Each location of Sports & Social is uniquely designed with careful attention to every detail by some of the highest profile firms in the world including ICRAVE, Jeffrey Beers International, and Knauer Incorporated. ICRAVE, a highly regarded and award-winning strategy, design, and development company, is creating Sports & Social at Miami Worldcenter. ICRAVE, a Miami- and New York-based company, has been in charge of designing Sports & Social’s nationwide expansion.
Three residential towers, Paramount Miami Worldcenter, Caoba, and Bezel Miami, as well as about 175,000 square feet of retail space, were among the phases of the project that were already finished. A 351-room citizenM hotel and an additional 125,000 square feet of retail space are slated to debut at Miami Worldcenter before the end of the year.
The Legacy Hotel & Residences, a 50-story mixed-use tower with 310 branded residences atop a hotel and 50,000 square feet of medical office space, as well as the second phase of Caoba, which will encompass an adjacent 40-story tower with 420 apartments, are also under construction. The 52-story Miami World Towers, which will have 550 apartment units, is also under construction.
The Witkoff Group’s three-tower mixed-use project, which will include up to 2,000 residential units as well as 550,000 square feet of office space and an additional 50,000 square feet of retail, is one of the planned developments. The Crosby, a 450-unit turn-key condominium by Related Group and Merrimac Ventures, two “supertall” residential towers by New York-based Naftali Group, and The Crosby are a few other projects that are in the works
‘Sports & Social’ will add to Miami Worldcenter’s alluring list of recently revealed tenants, which also includes Sephora, Bowlero, and Lucid Motors as well as two food and beverage concepts, Brasserie Laurel and El Vecino, that will soon open under the direction of Michelin-starred Chef Michael Beltran. Around 110,000 square feet of leased retail space are shared by these seven businesses and the newest tenant of the property in Downtown Miami.
Co-Owner of E11even Nightclub and Partner at Titan Capital Acquired Land at Miami Worldcenter
For $30 million, Lynd Living acquired a Miami Worldcenter development site from a business run by Marc Roberts, co-owner of the E11even nightclub, and Ira Saferstein, a partner at Titan Capital.
The $4 billion master-planned mixed-use project spanning 27 acres in the Park West neighborhood of downtown Miami has added the San Antonio-based company as the newest multifamily developer to the group of apartment builders.
According to public documents, a Lynd associate purchased the roughly 0.5-acre parcel of land at Northwest 10th Street and North Miami Avenue and secured a $22.7 million financing through TIG Romspen US Master Mortgage. According to a news statement, Kevin O’Grady and Justin Neelis from Concord Summit Capital handled the finance and Lynd has hired the company to find a construction loan. Additionally, Concord Summit mediated the sale.
IRR Parkwest Investments, led by Roberts and Saferstein, was sold by the Miami-based legal firm Adams Gallinar, which was represented by attorneys Michael Gallinar and Jason Camps.
A 650-unit apartment building is permitted on the site of the development. A residential tower is being planned, according to David Lynd, CEO of Lynd. “For the time being, we are keeping it quiet. We’ll release more information as we prepare to enter the market.
According to records, the vacant property was a component of a 1-acre assemblage that IRR purchased in 2020 for $26.7 million. The remaining property is still owned by Roberts and Saferstein. Roberts, a former boxing promoter, joined master developers Art Falcone and Nitin Motwani as an early investor in the Miami Worldcenter project in the early 2000s.
In March, the Miami Worldcenter development property at 1016 Northeast Second Avenue was purchased for $40.5 million by the New York-based Naftali Group and Chicago-based Akara Partners. The CEO of Naftali, Miki Naftali, is constructing two residential towers, but the company hasn’t said whether the structures would house condos or apartments.
Adam Neumann, a co-founder of WeWork, received $108 million in construction financing in February for a new apartment building on a bare lot at Miami Worldcenter. It shares a boundary with Caoba, a 40-story apartment complex at 698 Northeast First Avenue. Both the development site and Caoba’s ownership organization were purchased by Neumann.
Highest Penthouse at Paramount Miami Worldcenter is Now For Sale at $10.71 Million
At the current price of $10.71 million, the tallest penthouse in RPC’s Paramount Miami Worldcenter is now for sale.
With sweeping views of Miami from the 57th and 58th floors of the tower, Penthouse 5700 has 5,225 square feet spanning throughout four bedrooms, five and a half bathrooms, and a den that can be utilized as either a home office or a library in the unit. An open-style chef’s kitchen, floor-to-ceiling windows, double-height ceilings, and plenty of space for entertaining are included in the amenities of the property.
Penthouse 5700 will have access to the building’s 46 amenity spaces, which are the most residential amenities in the world and include the nation’s first outdoor soccer field in a high-rise residential building, resort-style swimming pools, tennis courts, a Tai Chi deck, and a boxing studio.
The purchaser will be residing among celebrities thanks to Paramount’s comprehensive array of sporting amenities, which has drawn a wide range of professional athletes.
Located in Miami Worldcenter, an entire city within a city and the second largest master-planned urban project in the country, Paramount offers walkable access to the best restaurants, cultural and entertainment venues in town.
The 58-story Paramount Miami Worldcenter, which was completed in August 2019, has 569 condo homes with studio, one, two, and three-bedroom floor layouts, as well as penthouses.
The Paramount Miami Worldcenter’s ordinary tower residences have interior square footage of 1,294 to 2,376 plus balconies, whilst its penthouse residences have interior square footage of 3,509 to 6,000 plus balconies.
The typical condo homes at Paramount Miami Worldcenter have either 11-foot- or 14-foot-deep terraces, private elevators, and 10-foot high ceilings with floor-to-ceiling glass windows.
Eight magnificent bi-level penthouses at Paramount Miami Worldcenter include 20-foot high ceilings, floor to ceiling glass windows, and panoramic views of the city and lagoon.
Elkus Manfredi Architects created Paramount Miami Worldcenter, which was created by Paramount Ventures. ID & Design International created the lobby and common areas.
Spinning Pan Am Globe Installed at Miami “World”center
Since the Miami Museum of Science closed its South Miami Avenue building in 2015, the enormous 1934 Pan Am globe of the world that once welcomed guests to the museum. The massive and vibrant sphere has since undergone substantial restoration, and it has been placed in its new, permanent outdoor location at the massive Miami Worldcenter complex in the Park West neighborhood.
In South Florida, the globe is a significant historical item. The former Pan American station on Dinner Key, which is now Miami City Hall, is where the 31-foot-5-inch, 6,500-pound globe was began.
Since moving it to the Frost Museum’s new facility would have been too difficult, the Miami Worldcenter will start spending $700,000 starting in 2020 to restore and weatherproof the globe with its original “approximately 1934” era lines.
A representative of the Miami Worldcenter stated “The Pan-Am globe depicts the world at a critical point in history – prior to World War II and when Miami was first realizing its position as a gateway for tourism and transportation.”
“It was important to the museum to find a partner that would care for this historic piece and ensure that the community can continue to enjoy this local icon,” stated the President and CEO of the Frost Museum.
Once complete, the Miami Worldcenter will feature 27-acres of retail, restaurants, shopping venues, and entertainment destinations. Retail will include 300,000 square feet of space and 40+ businesses.
Some notable retailers have already signed leases for the Miami Worldcenter which include Bowlero, Lucid Motors, and Sephora. Two luxurious restaurants are also named as the new lease holders, Maple & Ash and Laurel Brasserie. Maple & Ash is a famous Chicago restaurant that has now expanded to Arizona and now Miami. Laurel Brasserie is Miami Chef’s Michael Beltrans creation, with an anticipated opening date this summer.
