Who Steers Downtown Miami Redevelopment: the DDA, the CRAs and the Master Plan

Downtown Miami redevelopment is run by the Miami Downtown Development Authority (Miami DDA) across the urban core and by three City of Miami community redevelopment agencies, the Omni, Southeast Overtown/Park West and Midtown CRAs (Miami CRA).

The city CRA portal lists those three agencies without founding dates. The City of Miami formed the Omni CRA in 1987 to carry out renovation and revitalization within its designated redevelopment area (Omni CRA), and the Southeast Overtown/Park West CRA dates its establishment to 1982 (SEOPW CRA).

The Miami DDA describes itself as the economic development agency for the City of Miami urban core, with a mission to grow, strengthen and promote the economic health of Downtown Miami (Miami DDA). Its board is chaired by Ralph Rosado, the District 4 City of Miami Commissioner, and includes Miami-Dade County District 5 Commissioner Vicki L. Lopez alongside members from law firms, Brightline, the HEAT Group and Miami Dade College (Miami DDA board).

One contact detail conflicts. The Omni CRA site gives 305.679.6868 (Omni CRA), while the city CRA portal lists 305-679-6869 for the same office (Miami CRA portal); a caller who reaches neither should use [email protected]. The SEOPW CRA is governed by a board of City of Miami Commissioners (SEOPW CRA), with Christine King as chairwoman and Damian Pardo as vice chairman (SEOPW CRA board).

The Miami CRAs are paid for by tax increment (Omni CRA), while the Miami DDA can request impact fees collected under the Downtown DRI (Miami DDA).

Florida law sets the formula. Section 163.387 says the annual funding of a redevelopment trust fund must be not less than the increment, which equals 95 percent of the difference between the ad valorem taxes each taxing authority levies each year on taxable real property in the community redevelopment area and the taxes its rate would produce on the assessed value shown on the most recent roll before the funding ordinance took effect, both excluding debt service millage. The governing body may set a lower share in that ordinance, but not below 50 percent, and no agency may receive or spend increment revenues until the governing body has created the trust fund by ordinance (section 163.387, Florida Statutes). The Omni CRA says its funding is generated locally by tax increment, and that future tax dollars are directed back into the area for public improvements without increasing or levying new taxes (Omni CRA).

The Miami DDA side works differently. Under the DDRI Increment III Order, the DDA may request money collected in four impact fee categories set in Sec. 13-53 of the City of Miami Code: Administration, Air Quality, DRI/Master Plan Recovery and Transportation Mitigation (Miami DDA). The City of Miami Planning Department manages the DRI program with the DDA and produces annual reports on activity. In October 2021 Commissioner Reyes formed a DDA DRI Task Force to assess how much money is in each fee category, how much has been spent and what the future funding priorities are.

The DDA posts its FY 2025-2026 operating budget, including projects and initiatives, as a download on its budget page (Miami DDA Budget). As of October 18, 2026, that page offers only the FY 2025-2026 budget, so a reader looking for a later DDA budget should ask the DDA at (305) 579-6675 (Miami DDA).

The Downtown Miami Development of Regional Impact (DDRI) is an area-wide development of regional impact that encompasses 927 acres of urban development in the City of Miami, administered by the city and the Miami DDA (Miami DDA).

It spans three neighborhoods: Brickell, the Central Business District and the Arts + Entertainment District, which the DDA notes was formerly called Omni. Inside that line sit public parks, arenas, museums, libraries, theaters, courthouses, college campuses, office, retail, residential and hotel buildings and the governmental seat of Miami-Dade County (DDRI page).

The DDRI sets a total amount of development and a phased schedule for it, still subject to local land development rules. The project was originally approved with three phases or increments, the City of Miami adopted the Master Development Order on October 5, 1987, and the DDA's current fee requests run under the Increment III Order (Miami DDA). The city Planning Department, working with the DDA, uses impact fees to offset development and tracks progress in annual reports.

North of that core, the Omni Redevelopment Area stretches from Interstate 395 to NE 20 Terrace and takes in six areas: Omni, Northeast Overtown, South Wynwood, South Edgewater and small portions of Park West and Watson Island (Omni CRA district map).

The 2050 Downtown Miami Master Plan Update is a Miami DDA plan focused on the Central Business District and the Flagler District within it, with Zyscovich, LLC selected and a kickoff meeting held on February 26, 2026 (Miami DDA).

It builds on the 2025 Downtown Miami Master Plan, which set out to connect the Central Business District, the Arts + Entertainment District, Brickell and the waterfront under a vision of Downtown Miami as the business, social and cultural epicenter of the Americas (2025 Master Plan). In March 2016 the DDA board revisited that plan and voted to refocus its five main goals: business, arts and culture, public spaces, transit and mobility, and quality of life and livability.

The Downtown Miami update has moved through these steps, all from the DDA page (2050 Master Plan Update):

The DDA Urbanism Committee and board asked the consultants to weigh seven goals, among them a resilient city, incentives for equitable housing, more mobility options, adaptive reuse of buildings with less big box retail, and a walkable downtown Miami with connected green space (Miami DDA). As of October 18, 2026, the DDA page says only that it will share the date of the next workshop or public outreach meeting once one is scheduled, so Flagler District residents who want a say should watch the DDA public meetings calendar.

Businesses relocating or expanding in Downtown Miami can apply for Miami DDA business incentive grants for ground-floor retail, ground-floor food and beverage, tech start-ups and mid-sized businesses (Miami DDA).

The DDA also funds a Property Improvement Grant Program for qualified exterior improvements in the Central Business District, administered by the Downtown Miami Partnership, with applications reviewed by an independent committee (Miami DDA grants). Its business development team focuses on retaining and recruiting businesses and talent, with a high emphasis on technology and finance, and the DDA notes that the two main items needed from the City of Miami to open a business are, in order, a Certificate of Use and a Business Tax Receipt.

Businesses in the Omni district and in Southeast Overtown/Park West also have CRA programs. In the Omni district, the Omni CRA runs a Business Incentive Grant Program for businesses that relocate or expand there, plus a Historic Preservation Program that restores older buildings in the district (Omni CRA). Its housing work aims to keep residents from being displaced by new development. The Omni CRA says Uni Tower will have 252 affordable and workforce units, office space and ground floor retail (Omni CRA).

In Southeast Overtown and Park West, the SEOPW CRA lists a Facade Improvement Program, a Small Business Grant Program, a Public Art Activation Program, rental assistance and affordable housing at Atlantic Square, and projects including Miami Worldcenter, the 9th Street Pedestrian Mall enhancements and the Tri-Rail Downtown Miami Link (SEOPW CRA).

By the Miami DDA's own estimate, more than 101,000 people now live in Downtown Miami, up from 41,000 in 2012, and the area holds 155,000 jobs (Miami DDA).

The DDA also counts 30+ construction projects, more than 8,100 hotel rooms and more than 200 residential buildings in Greater Downtown Miami, and reports a median downtown household income of $119,000 a year from its 2025 Demographics Report (Miami DDA data page). These are the authority's own estimates, published in its business development section, not Census Bureau tables, and the job and income growth figures it cites cover 2012 to 2023. The same page describes the population change as nearly 68% growth from 41,000 since 2012, a percentage that does not match its own 41,000 and 101,000 counts (Miami DDA).

Public oversight happens in public meetings. The Omni CRA lists a regular board meeting for October 8, 2026, at 9:30 a.m. or thereafter, at Miami City Hall, 3500 Pan American Drive (Omni CRA). Because the SEOPW CRA is governed by a board of City of Miami Commissioners (SEOPW CRA), redevelopment spending in Southeast Overtown and Park West is voted on by sitting city commissioners. The Miami DDA posts agendas and minutes for its board and its business development, urbanism, quality of life, finance and other committees (Miami DDA).

Last verified: October 18, 2026, against the Miami DDA, Omni CRA, SEOPW CRA and City of Miami CRA websites and section 163.387 of the Florida Statutes.