All Aboard Florida just the ticket for growth
Work has started on the new Miami Central station for the $2.5billion All Aboard Florida transit system that connects with Orlando.
The high-speed service aims to connect Miami with Orlando through a 240-mile (390kilometer) route along the Atlantic coast north from Miami to Cocoa, reducing journey time by 30% to less than three hours.
The fast rail service is likely to increase values of real estate along the route, says Garrett Kenny, CEO of property specialist, Feltrim Group, which includes top real estate agency, C21 Feltrim.
“It is well-known that when new transport routes are created, real estate surrounding it usually benefits. Shortening the travel time from Orlando and Miami will also provide a boost for residents, tourists and businesses.”
The Downtown Miami station is planned to receive 16 departures and 16 arrivals a day from January 2017, representatives of All Aboard Florida told a real estate forum, reports the MiamiNewsToday website.
Construction has started at other stations being built at Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach.
The Miami site is set to be transformed from a parking lot into the station, 800 studio and one-bedroom apartments for rent and offices, with construction work planned to start towards the end of the year. A later phase of the project will include a mixed-use “super tower”.
In total, All Aboard Florida aims to bring 4million square feet of new transit-linked development around the South Florida stations.
Charles Shallat, Executive Vice President with Lincoln Property Company, working with All Aboard Florida, says residents could do away with the need for a car. MiamiCentral will let them “experience a life, instead of experiencing a ride” and being stuck in traffic jams for hours on end.
The company hopes the area will be more than a transportation hub. although the MiamiCentral station will be a destination for long-distance trains, Metrorail, Metromover, buses, trolleys, bike rentals, taxis and more.
At MiamiCentral, which is in Northwest First Avenue, the passenger rail system will be elevated 50feet to align with existing public transportation systems, with retail spaces beneath the tracks.
All Aboard Florida is a subsidiary of Florida East Coast Industries. It believes the project will inject $6.4billion into Florida’s economy over the next eight years.