The re-invention of Doral: a thriving office and residential real estate market have moved Doral away from its industrial heritage

South Florida CEO, Sept, 2005

Aside from the daily traffic headaches, the key issue facing Doral's civic leaders is how to make best use of the city's limited supply of remaining undeveloped land. In January, city leaders imposed a moratorium on new development applications, pending the anticipated early 2006 approval of a master land-use plan.

A 2004 study by Miami-Dade County's Department of Planning and Zoning shows that about 20 percent of the 9,526-acre city, or 1,925 acres, is still available for development. Most occupied land is zoned for industrial or commercial use, and only 10 percent of Doral is dedicated to residential uses.

In trying to create a new type of community, Doral city leaders face other land use issues as well:

* The county's large Solid Waste Resource Recovery Facility is located within Doral's city limits. To the northeast of the city, the county has proposed expanding its Medley Landfill, a position the City of Doral actively opposes.

* Growth to the west is constrained by Florida's Turnpike and existing rock mining operations.

* There are height restrictions on many buildings that lie in the western approach flight path to Miami International Airport. And state law generally prohibits school construction under airport flight paths.

Creating more parks and green spaces is a top priority for Doral, according to the city's proposed master plan, which was prepared by Palm Beach Gardens-based Iler Planning Group in May and presented at a public hearing in August.

"Parks were determined in the visioning process to be a primary quality-of-life issue for city residents," said the Iler Group's report. "The process also revealed a desire by most residents for more and smaller parks, such as tot lots and passive parks, distributed within walking distance of most homes."

Doral is now planning improvements for the three major parks it inherited from the county. The city is also looking to residential developers to incorporate parks and green spaces into their projects.

One of the largest residential projects under construction in Doral is homebuilder Sergio Pino's Century Grand, a 400-acre community on NW 107th Avenue at 90th Street, in northern Doral. Now in the final planning stage, the $2 billion development will be the largest yet for Pino's company, Miami-based Century Homebuilders LLC. Pino plans about 4,350 homes, retail stores, restaurants, parks and a school to serve the surrounding area. "We already have about 3,000 reservations," says Pino, the company's president. "We plan to start selling at the end of the year and hope to break ground next March."

Century Grand will include about 250,000 square feet of commercial development within walking distance of the community's homes. Wide sidewalks and a trolley system are planned to create an old-fashioned neighborhood ambiance.

"The way traffic is today, people want to live close to where they work," says Pino, who has already built 7,000 homes in Doral, including The Islands at Doral, a single-family and townhome community that is nearly built out. "This city is in a great location with a strong employment base, and incorporation has been a very positive thing. Our government officials live right here and have local knowledge of the community."