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Downtown Miami residents who love organic garbanzo beans and various imitations of snack foods made out of soy can breath a sigh of relief. The plan to bring a Whole Foods to the area is finally back on. Pop your bottles of Kombucha in celebration, yuppies.
A Whole Foods market had long been planned to be part of MDM Development Group’s Met 3 project, but back in December 2008 a contractual loophole allowed the fancy supermarket chain to pull out. That happened to be during the worst of times for development in Downtown, while fancy condo buildings sat near empty with unsold inventory.
Now that things are slowly recovering, it seems retailers are ready to move back in. According to The South Florida Business Journal, the developers and Whole Foods are in final negotiations to revive the deal. The plan involves a 35,000-square-foot store which would sit at the bottom of the building’s parking garage located at 200 SE Second Street. The market could be open as soon as 2013.
Publix also intends to move into the area, though much further north, with a large store set for NE 18th Avenue and Biscayne Boulevard.
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