In 2011, Resorts World Miami, owned by Malaysia-based Genting Group purchased the 14-acre Miami Herald complex on Biscayne Bay for 6 million, as well as surrounding properties, including the Omni Mall. Resorts World Miami planned to develop a billion luxury casino with multiple towers, stores and an elevated beach and lagoon on the site. But to no avail, since the state legislature has not approved expanded gambling in the state.
Meanwhile, workers are slowly removing the shell of the former newspaper office building that remains there. And recently, attorney Vicky Garcia-Toledo, representing Resorts World Miami, went before the Miami City Commission for permission to remove old easements on the property. She assured commissioners that “a full baywalk is part of the design of the project.” She said a new plat has been created in order to release a 1983 covenant “so we can build the walkway,” she said.
Last March, the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation a request that would have teamed up Resorts World Miami with Gulfstream Park Thoroughbred After Racing Program Inc. Under the rejected plan, Resorts World Miami would have used Gulfstream’s permit to operate up to 2,000 slot machines in Miami while races would have remained at Gulfstream’s track in Broward County.
