An affiliate of Motorsport Network said it will co-develop an office building in Little Haiti and move its headquarters into the building.
The 12-story building at 5972 N.E. Fourth Ave. would have about 370,000 square feet of leasable space. Motorsport Network, a major digital platform for automotive sports, will occupy around 50,000 square feet in the building.
The company is currently based in the Miami Design District and has offices in Orlando and Charlotte, North Carolina. Those offices would be consolidated into the top three floors of the new building. The operations will include its Motorsport Games division, which produced the NASCAR Heat video game. The company employees over 600 people worldwide.
This project would be part of the emerging Magic City Innovation District (MCID), a 17.75-acre area of Little Haiti that was approved for higher density and mixed-use development. The developers aim to create jobs, new housing and attract innovative companies.
“We are proud to have the world’s number one Motorsports digital news and entertainment network to the Magic City Innovation District – Little Haiti,” said Neil Fairman, managing partner of the MCID. “MotorsportNetwork represents the creative class that will spur innovative economic development and facilitate growth in Little Haiti.”
The building should break ground on the 0.93-acre site in mid-2021. It would be developed by Lemon City Group, which is affiliated with Motorsport Network and its founder Mike Zoi.
Lemon City Group recently obtained a $10.56 million mortgage on the property from Unify Financial Credit Union.
“The new development of our headquarters, as part of the exciting Magic City Innovation District – Little Haiti, is perfect to consolidate our U.S. businesses,” said Carlos M. Ruiz, CFO of Motorsport Network. “It’s also symbolic of the significance of what is being built in a neighborhood within this city with such a rich, cultural heritage and history, with a reimagining of what office spaces look like, featuring bespoke amenities in a creative media and technology-motivated environment for true innovators to thrive.”
This could be the first major new building in the MCID. The developers have renovated buildings into commercial and office space.
The district is approved for 2,630 residential units totaling 2.64 million square feet, 2.21 million square feet of office space, 520,970 square feet of commercial space, 201,600 square feet of hotel space with 432 hotel rooms, 119,610 square feet of expo space, 6,061 parking spaces, and 3.8 acres of civic/open space.