Two Venezuelan entrepreneurs add to the mix of the new Doral
With its proximity to Miami International Airport, and its relatively inexpensive land, the city of Doral has long been known as a logistics hub for Miami-Dade County. Over the last decade and a half, however, the city has striven to create a new identity for itself, and Doral’s evolution from a sprawl of warehouses to a dense, master-planned city has been one of the more dramatic urban shifts in South Florida. “We took an area in the western part of Dade County where there wasn’t anything and built a community,” says Juan Carlos Bermudez, Doral’s founding mayor.
Now, with an exploding population — rising from 25,000 in 2019 to 80,000 today — real estate costs are steadily rising, and developers are racing to secure what little land remains.
Among them is Coral Gables-based MG Developer, which has partnered with Venezuelan entrepreneur Ernesto De Lucas to build Doral Parc: Midtown Doral Phase IV, V & VI – a 552-unit residential development with 22,740 square feet of retail. The three-building project recently broke ground.
“This project is an important step in helping Doral become a more dynamic and livable community,” says MG Developer CEO Alirio Torrealba, also a native of Venezuela, who made his name first as a developer of luxury townhouses in tony Coral Gables. “Doral is evolving, and so are we.” For Torrealba, whose first U.S. office was in Doral, the project “is a full-circle moment,” he says. “We feel very proud and very committed to adding value to a city that is deeply rooted in the Latin American community.”
While Doral is associated with international commerce – it is home to more than 2,600 trade and logistics companies and over 100 multinational firms – the city has shifted significantly in recent years toward mixed-use development. The most visible example is Codina Partners’ Downtown Doral, a $1 billion, 250-acre master-planned project with office towers, retail, schools, and parks. Mayor Christi Fraga described it as “a new quality of life – totally walkable, connected, and artfully designed.”
MG Developer’s project is smaller in scope but still aims to contribute to that vision. “We’re going to help shift the perception of Doral from being sort of very industrial to a more residential, very urban area,” explains Torrealba. “Apart from the residential component, there’s also going to be a commercial aspect. With that, we’re going to really help create a very urban feel to Doral.”
As land in Doral becomes scarcer and more expensive, infill projects like Doral Parc are needed to continue the city’s growth. Adding to the housing stock, the Trump Organization recently secured approval for Doral International Towers, a 1,400-unit project planned near the Trump National Doral Golf Club. Meanwhile, UHealth is constructing a six-story, 160,000-square-foot ambulatory care center in the heart of Downtown Doral.
Torrealba said MG’s approach promotes “a strong emphasis on community building, which we feel sets us apart from some of the other projects.” While Doral’s development has drawn mostly newcomers from Latin America, the city is also trying to draw in a newer type of crowd. “We’ll continue to see residents coming from different countries in South America and Central America,” says Torrealba. “But we’re also interested in the young professional looking for that urban lifestyle, in a less expensive environment than downtown Miami.”
