After All That, is Genting Trying to Unload the Miami Herald Site?

April 26, 2016

On the face of it, Malaysian casino conglomerate Genting‘s Miami dreams have been slow to materialize since setting up their Miami/Bimini operations around 2011, but does that mean Genting is ready to pack up and leave town? Will Resorts World Miami ever be a thing? According to the Miami Herald, Genting showed the former location of the Miami Herald Building to an unnamed real estate developer, apparently in a bid to flip it.

After spending nearly $500 million for the Miami Herald Building, the old Omni International Mall, the Boulevard Shops, and properties adjacent to the Miami School Board Headquarters, their plans to build literally the world’s biggest casino have all but bellyflopped. Having been denied the legal ability to build a casino at all, the company then announced plans to build a luxury mixed-use waterfront complex, demolished the old Miami Herald Building, and did pretty much nothing with the site (they are, however, renovating the historic Boulevard Shops). Since then rumors have swirled from various sources about what the company might be doing, and they have reportedly talked to developer Jorge Perez and soccer star/stadium builder David Beckham. None of those efforts, however, appeared to go anywhere. Although the company is still lobbying in Tallahassee to allow its casino plans to move forward, pulling out, by now, wouldn’t exactly be a huge surprise.

With a new hotel and more visitors, the Bimini operations appear to be doing better, although in January Genting took the newly renovated ‘Bimini Superfast’ boat out of service, at the time saying they planned to replace it with “a more efficient operation” sometime this spring.