A Mexican firm discovers opportunity north of the Miami-Dade line
By Bill Williams
Mexico’s Grupo Eco was not the first real estate developer to discover the untapped potential of Hallandale, the first municipality north of Miami-Dade County. That accolade goes to Miami’s Related Group, which built the oceanfront Beach Club Hallandale Towers I and II more than a decade ago.
Since then, however, real estate prices have skyrocketed in Greater Miami, making Hallandale even more attractive, luring investments from the likes of the Soffers (of Miami Beach’s Fontainebleau Hotel) and 13th Floor Investments (of Miami’s Link at Douglas). The growing interest even caught the attention of The New York Post, which recently said Hallandale Beach was racing to become “South Florida’s buzziest city.”
That same realization has now prompted Grupo Eco to expand their Atlantic Village culinary and lifestyle center in Hallandale to include Class A offices, padel courts, and additional 5-star restaurants. The potential even caused the developer to move its headquarters from Mexico to Atlantic Village. It hopes doctors, lawyers, accountants, and other professionals will follow suit, buying suites in a new Class A office condo tower that is due to be completed by year’s end.
Opened over the last two years, Atlantic Village’s two lifestyle centers include a long list of successful retail tenants such as Doggi’s Arepa Bar, Crema Gourmet, Jaffa Israeli Kitchen, The Blues Burgers, and a dozen other establishments. The complex on Federal Highway has more than 200,000-square-feet of retail, restaurants, and offices that cater to a growing population of affluent residents flocking to area condominiums, including several new ones on the drawing board.
It is also a favorite of residents from nearby Golden Beach, Aventura, and Sunny Isles, who want short commutes to quality dining experiences, professional services, indoor playgrounds for kids, and more, as well as Latin Americans who are looking for more affordable real estate in South Florida (homes in Broward County cost, on average, 20 percent less than neighboring Miami-Dade).
A recently completed 130,000-square-foot commercial building on the south side of the property has 65,000-square-feet of Class A office and 65,000-square-feet of retail and restaurant space that will be home to multiple enterprises expanding from Miami, including the Wagyu Bar, 54D, and Juvia Group, the latter hoping to reproduce its rooftop restaurant success on Miami Beach’s Lincoln Road.
Also arriving from Miami Beach is the popular Pan-Asian restaurant, the Drunken Dragon. “It was the right time to expand,” says Conrad Gomez, who operates the Drunken Dragon with partners through Miami-based Homecookin’ Hospitality Group. “Hallandale Beach is at a fast-growing pace with development and an influx of people who are moving to the city.”
Grupo Eco arrived in the U.S. with plenty of experience in development and property management. In Mexico, its portfolio includes the Sofitel Mexico City Reforma, one of the top hotels in Mexico City; the Park Interlomas, a mixed-use office residential and retail project with an indoor park; and Mexico City’s corporate center Diamante Santa Fe.
“In Mexico, we have developed a good foundation to do business,” says Grupo Eco CEO Salomon Sutton. “We were starting to do some business in the U.S., so we decided to be closer because we have a big team managing everything. We are very hands-on. We needed to see it up close and we knew we could manage Mexico from here.”
Both Sutton and Grupo Eco partner Pedro Bodegas Jr. are registered architects in Mexico and participated in the design of Atlantic Village. The buildings feature an abundance of natural light, made available by 18-foot ground-floor ceilings throughout the property. “We are always thinking of the use and the user, how they live and experience things,” says Bodegas, Jr.
