August 19, 2021 05:00 ET | Source: Royal Palm Companies
“Pandemic Ready” Legacy Tower at Miami Worldcenter, First Major Groundbreaking in SFLA Since Surfside Condo Collapse
Adventist Health, Blue Zones, Accor Hotels & Royal Palm Companies Enter into Revolutionary Partnership
MIAMI, Aug. 19, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — In the midst of South Florida’s surge in coronavirus cases; during ground breaking ceremonies today; Miami Mayor Francis Suarez is unveiling the Legacy Tower at Miami Worldcenter — the world’s first COVID-Conscious, Pandemic-Ready, all-in-one, residential, hotel and medical center skyscraper in downtown Miami.
Miami Worldcenter is currently the nation’s largest urban core construction project and America’s second-largest real estate development.
Adventist Health, Accor Hotels, Blue Zones, Royal Palm Companies Partnership
The 55-story, $500-million, 600-foot-tall Legacy Tower at the mammoth Miami Worldcenter is the result of a revolutionary joint venture and partnership.
It involves Adventist Health, one of the nation’s largest not-for-profit, faith-based hospital and healthcare systems; Blue Zones, the global leader in human longevity research; Accor Hotels, one of the world’s largest hospitality companies; and the Royal Palm Companies — Florida’s preeminent luxury high-rise real estate development firm.
First Construction Start Since Pandemic & Condo Collapse
Today’s groundbreaking is the first major construction start at Miami Worldcenter since the beginning of the pandemic and the first in the wake of the Champlain Towers condominium collapse in nearby Surfside, Fla.
Legacy is being built using the latest architectural designs and technologies, construction techniques and materials – assuring structural integrity and a healthy environment, according to RPC.
Legacy will feature 310 MicroLuxe residences, 219 hotel rooms and 10-floors of medical facilities.
America’s City-Within-the-City-of-the-Future
The Legacy Tower joint venture and partnership will create a one-of-a-kind residential, hospitality, health and well-being urban ecosystem, within the $4-billion, 27-acre Miami Worldcenter.
Miami Worldcenter is the city’s new retail, residential, restaurant, entertainment and transportation complex.
Departures Magazine calls it, “America’s City-Within-The-City-of-the-Future.”
Medical Complex at Miami Worldcenter
The Legacy Tower’s $100-million, 120,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art medical center will be the most technologically advanced health and well-being facility in the world, according to Royal Palm Companies CEO, Daniel Kodsi.
The medical component will be called, “The Blue Zones Medical Center.”
The term Blue Zones, first coined in a 2005 National Geographic Magazine cover story, refers to areas of the world where people live longer lives – sometimes beyond age 90 – as a result of lifestyle, diet and exercise.
The Blue Zones Center will adopt and administer established health and well-being practices, designed by Adventist Health’s Blue Zones Project, and employ them in conjunction with the application of 21st century medical technologies and processes to create an urban ecosystem where residents will strive to live healthier, more productive and longer lives.
COVID-Conscious Skyscraper / Daniel Kodsi / CEO / Royal Palm Companies / 01:09 – 01:23
“What is unique about Legacy is that it was designed with a COVID-Conscious lifestyle in-mind,” says Miami-based Royal Palm Companies’ CEO, Daniel Kodsi (Cod-See).
“Here you have a medical-wellness center, combined with a hotel, residences, all-in-one tower. This is, in essence, pandemic-ready. One day, in the future, you can shelter in-place — right in the building,” says Kodsi.
Germ-Killing Technologies & Anti-Viral Amenities / Daniel Kodsi / CEO / Royal Palm Companies / 01:26 – 01:43
He emphasizes, the entire tower is designed with an array of COVID-Conscious amenities and technologies.
Kodsi explains, “Legacy features these COVID-conscious materials and technologies, for instance, hospital-grade ventilation systems throughout, UV robots, touchless technology, voice-activated technology, water filtration system, and even antimicrobial material on all the furniture throughout the project.”
All of these technologies are proven to reduce the spread of viruses and germs, according to Kodsi.
He adds, that in the event of a public health emergency, Legacy will be equipped with medical gases and, even, ventilators.
World-Renowned Architect Addresses Airborne Pathogens / Kobi Karp / Architect / 02:21 – 02:44
Kobi Karp is a world-renowned architect. Since 1996, he has designed more than 900 South Florida five-star hotels and high-rise luxury condominiums, including Legacy Miami Worldcenter.
“The indoor and the outdoor spaces are harmonious, and they flow together,” says Karp. “What’s interesting is that, as this pandemic came around, COVID, we saw that these kinds of designs became more progressive. Yet, this whole building was designed about health, wellness, well-adjusting, not only physical, but also mental and sociological.”
CDC: Spread of Coronavirus
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in some cases, the coronavirus spreads by people touching contaminated surfaces and then touching themselves. However, in most cases, it is an airborne pathogen.
Germ-Zapping Technologies / Kobi Karp / Architect / 02:48 – 03:07
Karp says, working with engineers, his firm helped devise an incredibly effective air decontamination system.
“We have technology that allows us to have safe mechanical systems that we can put into the lungs of the air conditioning system; special units of light that will allow us to have a very clear filtration system of breathing air for the people who inhabit the building.”
COVID Impact on Real Estate Market
Recently, the Miami real estate market has experienced explosive growth due to the migration of people fleeing to Florida from high tax states located along the I-95 and I-75 interstate highway corridors and from California.
When the coronavirus crisis erupted, the migration to Miami intensified. Residents of heavily pandemic-impacted regions started relocating, in record numbers, to South Florida.
During the past 18 months, the migration has caused Florida real estate prices to soar, according to the Miami Realtors Association.
Since the start of the pandemic, it is estimated that during the past year, roughly 950 people per day have been moving to Florida, according to the state’s department of motor vehicles, which issues drivers’ licenses.
Condo Collapse Causes Concerns
On the morning of June 24, 2021, the world awakened to headlines of the overnight Champlain Towers condominium collapse in Surfside, Florida, which killed 98 people, most of whom who were asleep.
The catastrophe suddenly sparked concerns amongst condominium buyers to re-think moving into older, less expensive residential buildings.
This has triggered a spiraling spike in sales of newer and under-construction condos.
Red Hot Real Estate / Daniel Kodsi / CEO / Royal Palm Companies / 01:47 – 02:12
“Miami is a hot real estate market, today,” says Kodsi, a 30-year seasoned real estate executive.
“Some challenges are that buyers have questions about structural integrity since the Surfside building collapse or the impact of the ongoing pandemic.”
He continues, “At Legacy Hotel and Residences, we responded to that. We talk about structural integrity and technology and how it changed in the past 40 years. We looked at the pandemic – and created a COVID-conscious lifestyle building for the future.”
Champlain Condo Construction vs Legacy Construction / Kobi Karp / Architect / 02:48 – 03:07 / 03:10 – 03:21 / 03:25 – 03:37
Karp, who employs a staff of 80 architects, says construction techniques, design technologies and the quality and strength of materials used to build modern structures, especially Legacy, are incomparable to the Champlain Towers.
“In the aftermath of the Surfside building collapse, the design of 1981 versus the design of 2021, it is a completely different structural design, mean, and methodology,” says Karp.
He continues, “This building is designed to meet the design criteria, the Florida building code, post-Hurricane Andrew. After Hurricane Andrew, we have completely revamped the design, the structural design of our buildings.”
Wind-Tunnel Testing
Karp explains, scale models of Legacy have undergone wind tunnel testing at a facility outside Denver, Colorado.
The testing is conducted not only to assure Legacy is hurricane resistant but is structurally-sound.
Pile Driving
Following the groundbreaking, construction crews will be drilling deep into the limestone porous surface of downtown Miami.
Workers will start sinking into the ground 125-foot-deep steel rebar piles, which serve as the building’s legs.
Karp says, unlike the Champlain towers, this kind of steel and concrete support system did not exist in the 1980s.
Spine of Structure / Kobi Karp / Architect / 03:44 – 03:51
“The vertical circulation, the elevators, the staircases, are encased in reinforced concrete, and they move all the way down to the base of the building, and that is the spine of the building, and the slabs, which are your concrete post tension, are the strength of the building.”
Adventist Health
Adventist Health is one of the nation’s largest not-for-profit, faith-based hospital and healthcare systems.
It operates more than 300 healthcare facilities in California, Hawaii and Oregon.
Legacy Miami Worldcenter is Adventist Health’s first venture on the eastern seaboard.
It will be the only-one-of-its-kind medical center in the world and the only major healthcare facility in downtown Miami.
Blue Zones
The facility will be called, The Miami Blue Zones Medical and Well-Being Center.
Blue Zones is the globally-renowned human longevity research organization, owned by Adventist Health that has developed a 21st century gold-standard for lifestyle practices that are proven to help people live longer.
Accor
Accor is one of the world’s leading hospitality and lodging companies, with more than 3,700 properties in 100 countries.
Accor will operate the Legacy hotel component, under its new luxury brand, Morgan’s Originals.
Royal Palm Companies
Royal Palm Companies is Florida’s preeminent luxury high-rise real estate development firm.
RPC is the designer and developer of more than 40 major projects across the state. They include the world-famous, ultra-futuristic Paramount Miami Worldcenter residential skyscraper and vertical country club.
The 60-story, 700-foot, $600-million superstructure is the new signature skyscraper of downtown Miami.
Paramount is the first residential tower in America to feature a Jetsons-Style Flying Car Skyport.
Legacy is located across the street from Paramount.
RPC created the Adventist, Accor and Blue Zones joint venture.
Royal Palm will oversee construction and residential, retail and commercial sales and leasing.
More About Blue Zones
Blue Zones are regions of the world where an unusually high number of people live longer lives compared to other areas.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, people living in South Florida have a life span of about 80-years.
However, people residing in Blue Zones, live, on average, to 90-years and older.
The term, “Blue Zones,” first appeared in the November 2005 issue of National Geographic Magazine, in an article entitled, “The Secrets of a Long Life,” written by author Dan Buettner.
Buettner identified people in certain areas of the world that live longer lives than others.
Those people live in Icaria, Greece; Nicoya, Costa Rica; Okinawa, Japan; Sardinia, Italy; and they are parishioners of the Seventh-Day Adventist Church residing in Loma Linda, California.
Buettner’s research concluded that people living in these Blue Zones maintained healthier, vegetarian-based diets; that they engaged in constant physical activity; that they did not smoke; that they placed family above other concerns and they involved themselves in social and community activities.
Blue Zones Projects
Buettner, who has written more than a half-dozen books on healthier living and conducts seminars around the world, has also developed the “Blue Zones Project.”
It is a community-wide well-being initiative designed to guide people to make healthier choices.
The Project implements sustainable changes to the communities’ environments and social networks; often suggesting systems-level changes in key settings such as faith-based communities, grocery stores, neighborhoods, restaurants, schools and worksites.
By helping people live longer and better, through behavioral changes, Blue Zones’ participants enjoy a higher quality of life and show signs of improved productivity, as they grow, learn, live and work.
One result is that healthcare costs are lowered, according to Adventist Health.
Miami: Blue Zones City
In Dade County, local leaders are now considering a proposal that would establish Miami as the largest Blue Zones Project in the world.
In 2020, Blue Zones hosted a series of roundtable sessions with business, community and government leaders in Miami to discuss creation and execution of the Project.
According to Adventist Health, a Miami Blue Zones Project would produce medical costs and productivity savings of about $4.5 billion.
Miami Worldcenter is expected to be the launch pad and flagship of the Miami Blue Zones Project.
Legacy COVID-Conscious Technologies & Amenities
Advanced Hospital-Grade & Ultraviolet Ray Residential Disinfecting Ventilation Systems.
Advanced Water Purification Systems.
Fleet of Xenex UV Ray Disinfection Robots.
Food & Beverage Service.
Medical Gases.
On-Call & On-Site Physicians and Medical Staff.
Robotic Automobile Parking Garage.
Touchless & Facial Recognition Entry Systems.
Ventilators.
Voice-Activated Elevators.
Legacy Health & Performance Highlights
First-of-its-kind Diagnostic Lab Testing Suite for Preemptive Health Evaluations.
Medically Equipped Hotel Rooms for Post-Surgical Patients.
MRI, CT Scans, Mammography, X-Ray and Ultrasound Imaging Facilities.
On-Site Laboratory for Speedy Results.
On-Site & On-Call Physicians, Nurses, Technicians, Nutritionists, Therapists, and More.
On-Site Pharmacy & Dispensary.
Surgery Rooms.
Legacy Luxury Amenities
Cantilever-Shaped Rooftop Infinity Pool & Glass-Enclosed Atrium.
Downtown Miami’s Largest Hotel Swimming Pool.
Urban Deck: One-Acre.
219 Hotel Rooms.
310 MicroLuxe Residences.
Lounges, Restaurants, Shops, Spa.
Prices Start at $300K.
Legacy is Slated for Completion in 2024.
About Miami Worldcenter
Miami’s New Residential, Retail, Office, Dining, Hospitality, Entertainment and Transportation Complex.
Composed of 11 Residential and Office Towers.
Two Residential Building are Completed and Occupied.
Two Structures are Nearing Completion.
Legacy and the Nativo Condo-Tel are now Breaking Ground.
Several Hotels, Retail Stores, Shops.
10 City Blocks-Long, 27 Acres.
New York’s Hudson Yards, the Nation’s Largest Urban Core Real Estate Development is 28 Acres.
Comparatively, Rockefeller Center, Built in 1932, is 22-Acres.
Surrounded by the FTX (formerly American Airlines) Arena, Miami’s Performing Arts Center and Museum Park.
Five Miles East is Miami Beach.
Five Miles West is Miami International Airport.
A Half-Mile Southeast is the Miami Cruise Ship Port.
Adjacent is the Brightline high-speed, intrastate railway terminal.
America’s only Privately-Owned and Operated Passenger Train System.
Brightline Shutdown Service After the Pandemic Began.
Service from Miami to Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach and Orlando, is Scheduled to Resume in November.
Jobs Program
Since construction started in 2015, Miami Worldcenter has employed more than 14,000 construction workers.
Legacy’s construction workforce will be about 800 people over the course of two years.
In an agreement between the developers and local government, 30 percent of all unskilled workers hired for the Miami Worldcenter construction projects must be current residents of the neighborhoods nearest the development that have the highest unemployment rates.
Those workers are provided on-the-job training, certification courses, and are paid nearly twice the state’s $8.64 per hour minimum wage.
In some cases they receive benefits and the opportunity to advance their careers to full apprenticeships, tradesmen and journeymen status.
Guest Offering Bios
About Daniel Kodsi, CEO-Developer Royal Palm Companies
About Bill Wing, President Adventist Healthcare
https://www.adventisthealth.org/about-us/leadership-team/
About Gaurav Bhushan, CEO, Accor Lifestyle
https://group.accor.com/en/directory/gaurav-bhushan
Soundbite Transcripts
Daniel Kodsi, CEO, Royal Palm Companies / 00: 27 – 00:50
“Miami World Center is a 27-acre, mixed-use development here in the heart of downtown Miami. It has five blocks of pedestrian walkways. It encompasses 10 city blocks, a mix of hospitality, residential, ground-floor retail, office buildings, and it’s connected to all of Miami’s amenities, the arena, the museum, parks, performing arts center, and the major transportation complex, Bright Line, that connects you to the rest of the state of Florida.”
Daniel Kodsi, CEO, Royal Palm Companies / 00:53 – 01:05
“The significance of Miami World Center is it really fills a hole in a donut in the city of Miami. It’s an urban core right in the center. It connects the financial district, downtown, all the major transportation. It’s really, in essence, a city within a city.
Daniel Kodsi, CEO, Royal Palm Companies / 01:09 – 01:18
“What’s unique about Legacy, it was designed with a COVID-conscious lifestyle in mind. Here, you have a medical wellness center combined with a hotel, residences, all in one tower. This is, in essence, pandemic ready. One day in the future you could shelter in place right in the building.”
Daniel Kodsi, CEO, Royal Palm Companies / 01:26 – 01:43
“Legacy features these COVID-conscious materials and technologies, for instance, hospital-grade ventilation systems throughout, UV robots, touchless technology, voice-activated technology, water filtration system, and even antimicrobial material on all the furniture throughout the project.”
Daniel Kodsi, CEO, Royal Palm Companies / 01:47 – 02:12
“Miami’s a high real-estate market today. Some challenges. Our buyers have questions about structural integrity since the Surfside building collapse, or the ongoing pandemic. At Legacy Hotel and Residences, we responded to that. We talk about structural integrity and technology and how it’s changed in the past 40 years. We looked at the pandemic and creating a COVID-conscious lifestyle building for the future.”
Kobi Karp, Architect / 02:21 – 02:44
“The indoor and the outdoor spaces are harmonious, and they flow together. What’s interesting is that, as this pandemic came around, COVID, we saw that these kind of designs became more progressive, yet this whole building was designed about health, wellness, well adjusting, not only physical, but also mental, sociological. How do people come together?”
Kobi Karp, Architect / 02:48 – 03:07
“We have technology that allows us to have safe mechanical systems that we can put into the lungs of the air conditioning system, special units of light, and that will allow us to have a very clear filtration system of breathing air for the people who inhabit the building.”
Kobi Karp, Architect / 03:10 – 03:21
“In the aftermath of the Surfside building collapse, the design of 1981 versus the design of 2021, it is a completely different structural design, mean, and methodology.”
Kobi Karp, Architect / 03:25 – 03:37
“This building is designed to meet the design criteria, the Florida building code, post-Hurricane Andrew. After Hurricane Andrew, we have completely revamped the design, the structural design of our buildings.”
Kobi Karp, Architect / 03:41 – 03:55
“The vertical circulation, the elevators, the staircases, are encased in reinforced concrete, and they move all the way down to the base of the building, and that is the spine of the building, and the slabs, which are your concrete post tension, are the strength of the building.”
Daniel Kodsi Bio
Daniel Kodsi is the Chief Executive Officer of Royal Palm Companies (RPC), one of South Florida’s preeminent luxury real estate development firms. He is one of the lead developers of the massive, $4-billion, 27-acre Miami Worldcenter.
It is the city’s retail, residential, restaurant, entertainment and transportation that is dubbed, “The-City-Within-America’s-City-of-the-Future.”
Since 1991, under Kodsi’s leadership, RPC has developed more than 40 major real estate projects.
RPC’s portfolio of previous, current and in-the pipeline real estate developments exceeds $5-Billion.
During the past three decades, Kodsi has delivered more than 6,000 units consisting in excess of 10 million square feet of high-rise residential buildings and master-planned communities and mixed-use and multi-family developments, as well as luxury hotels.
Kodsi is best-known for identifying underserved markets and his abilities to execute large-scale and mixed-use developments and master-planned communities.
In 2011, Kodsi founded Participant Capital. It is the investment arm of Royal Palm Companies. Participant is a vehicle to empower individual investors to participate in ground-up construction projects.
Throughout his career, Kodsi has been credited for re-shaping skylines with his award-winning projects.
He has also created several branded luxury residences, including the Paramount Bay Miami, Paramount Fort Lauderdale Beach and the globally-recognized Paramount Miami Worldcenter. It is the soaring signature skyscraper of Miami Worldcenter — the nation’s second-largest master-planned urban core real estate development.
In August 2021, RPC marked the groundbreaking of its newest project — the Legacy Hotel and Residences at Miami Worldcenter.
Legacy is the newest mixed-use tower overlooking the heart of downtown Miami. It offers buyers and investors a unique blend of business models across hospitality, real estate, preventative healthcare, and wellness that operate independently, but also create an asset ecosystem that appeals to the new ‘disease conscious traveler.
Kodsi, a seasoned real estate executive, is often called-upon by the news media for his expertise in architecture, design, development and finance. He has appeared in the pages of the Miami Herald, New York Times, Wall Street Journal and Washington Post.
Kodsi is a frequent guest on television news programs. He has appeared on Bloomberg TV, CBS News, CNBC, FOX Business News, FOX News Channel, NBC News and Yahoo Finance; as well as Miami’s ABC, CBS, FOX, and NBC affiliated TV newscasts.
Kodsi is a frequent guest speaker and panel member for BizNow, the EB-5 Council, the National Multifamily Housing Council, The Real Deal and The Urban Land Institute.
He is a trustee on the board of the Builders Association of South Florida.
Kodsi is a 1991 graduate of the University of Miami, where he earned his bachelor’s degree in Architecture and Finance.
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