Last Sears In Miami Eyed For 800-Unit Residential Redevelopment

Miami real estate magnate Raanan Katz is looking to tear down the last Sears in Miami city limits and replace it with housing and a park.

Katz, who leads retail real estate firm RK Centers and co-owns the Miami Heat, is having discussions with local community groups about a plan to replace the 68-year-old property at 3655 Southwest 22nd St. with two 400-unit apartment buildings, retail and a 1-acre public park, Miami New Times reports.

RK Centers acquired the store on the border of Miami and Coral Gables in 1987 and would need to go through the city of Miami rezoning process to proceed with the redevelopment. The 8-acre parcel is valued at $31.75M. 

RK Centers introduced the proposal in late April at a homeowners association meeting in the adjacent Coral Gate community and discussed it at another public meeting in November, the New Times reported.

stRK Centers Vice President of Development and Acquisitions Andrew Zidar told the New Times that Sears’ lease expires in 2030, and that the property owner expects to adjust its plans after receiving pushback from neighbors.

"We are in the process of redesigning the project in response to the neighborhood comments," Zidar told the outlet. "[Our goal is] to redevelop this property in a manner which is a 'win-win' for both the property owner and neighboring community."

Many opposed the development over traffic concerns in the community meetings, and pushed to block any upzoning of the land, the New Times reported.

The 250K SF Coral Gables department store is one of three Sears left in Florida and less than two dozen in the country after the retailer emerged from bankruptcy last year.

It's not the only Sears that RK Centers has owned and sought to redevelop. It announced plans in January 2020 to redevelop the last Sears in Fort Lauderdale, and received approval in January 2022. It sold the 9-acre parcel to Denver-based multifamily developer AIMCO last summer for $100M across multiple deals, which is planning a 3M SF project, Florida YIMBY reported.