Merrick Park in Coral Gables

In a different economic time I am sure Merrick Park would have been one of the award winning mixed use projects of the last decade. Unfortunately, Rouse’s vision in Coral Gables has been severely affected by the economic downturn. The concept is exciting, and the central courtyard and attention to detail is impeccable. Yet, it had little traffic on multiple visits recently. It is hard to fault a specific project in Florida, especially in the hard hit Miami area. However, there are some lessons in its design and programming to take away from it. It feels somewhat dark entering in, it has storefront retail where there is no traffic, there is very limited parking, and the entire center faces inward on itself. These issues are compounded by the mixed use dilemma between the retail and residential uses (which comes first?). As readers here will know, it is very difficult for residential to be successful without quality retail underneath it. But also, if you have a bunch of empty residences, then it can also undermine the leasing of the retail spaces.