Genting Americas has secured a $500 million loan to refinance Miami’s Omni Center, putting fresh financing behind a large mixed-use property near downtown and Biscayne Bay. The deal is about the existing complex, not a reopening of the former mall, and not a transaction for the mostly vacant waterfront parcel next door.
That distinction matters. The Omni Center has continued to attract office tenants, while the adjoining 15-acre site remains a question mark after a planned $1.2 billion sale collapsed in 2023. Genting has not announced plans for the assemblage.
A refinancing for the property in operation
The 1.5 million-square-foot Omni Center stretches between 1501 and 1645 Biscayne Boulevard, just north of the MacArthur and Venetian causeway entrances and close to the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts. Built in the 1970s, the property includes 435,000 square feet of office space, a 527-room Hilton hotel and a 2,500-space parking garage.
Wells Fargo is administrative agent for a group of lenders, according to public mortgage documents cited by Commercial Observer, which reported the refinancing on Oct. 21. The loan amount is public, but the available reporting does not state its term, interest rate, the amount of debt being refinanced or a current valuation for the property.
The loan is not evidence that the Omni International Mall is returning. The mall, which once operated inside the building, closed in 2000. Instead, the property today combines offices, a hotel and parking, with tenants ranging from a government passport office to a private school.
Leasing continues as the site’s story shifts
Recent leasing adds context to the refinancing. Over the past year, Planet Fitness signed a 26,000-square-foot office lease, while consulting firm Skyline Financial took 25,420 square feet. Other tenants include the U.S. State Department, which operates a passport office at the property, and Keypoint Academy, a private grade school.
Those leases show activity within the Omni Center, though the reported figures do not establish the property’s overall occupancy or explain how the new loan will affect its operations. The refinancing is a capital event for the existing complex; it does not resolve what will happen on the neighboring waterfront land.
Genting Americas, a division of Malaysian casino operator Genting Group, acquired the Omni Center through foreclosure in 2011 for $180 million. That same year, the company bought the adjoining 15-acre site for $236 million, creating one of Miami’s largest land assemblages.
The former Miami Herald headquarters stood on that neighboring site. Genting demolished the office building with plans for a casino, but the project never materialized after the company failed to obtain a gambling license. The land remains mostly vacant.
Why the waterfront parcel remains unresolved
In 2023, a joint venture led by David Martin’s Terra went under contract to buy the waterfront assemblage, excluding the Omni Center, for $1.2 billion. At the time, the proposed purchase would have ranked among the country’s priciest land deals.
The transaction fell apart as the buyer struggled to secure financing. Commercial Observer’s 2023 report said Terra requested an extension of the exclusivity period and amendments to the purchase terms; Genting declined the request, and the deal was scrapped. The failed sale left the waterfront parcel in Genting’s hands, with no completed transaction to establish a new buyer or project.
That history is why the vacant land stands out alongside the refinancing. The $500 million loan concerns the Omni Center, not the 15-acre assemblage. It does not signal a sale or announced development plan for the site. Genting has not publicly announced what it intends to do with the parcel.
A representative for Genting Americas did not immediately respond to Commercial Observer’s request for comment, the publication reported.
For now, two related properties have different immediate stories: a 1970s mixed-use complex securing new financing while continuing to sign office tenants, and a high-profile waterfront site still vacant after a major proposed sale fell through. The refinancing resets the financing picture for the Omni Center; the future of the land next door remains open.
