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An independent economic and fiscal impact analysis of the proposed redevelopment of the historic Miami Seaquarium site on Virginia Key — transforming a single-purpose attraction into a diversified, publicly accessible waterfront destination.
The Miami Seaquarium has operated for more than sixty years on County-owned land on Virginia Key as a single-purpose marine attraction. In recent years attendance declined and the site's public and economic value plateaued. Terra's proposed redevelopment replaces that single-purpose model with a diversified, publicly accessible waterfront destination anchored by a new accredited aquarium with no marine mammals.
BusinessFlare® was engaged to independently quantify the economic and fiscal implications of the proposal — construction and operating activity, jobs and output supported in the Miami-Dade economy, and the public-benefit dimension — using transparent methodology and clearly documented assumptions.
The proposed redevelopment converts a declining single-purpose attraction into a diversified, modernized waterfront destination — an approximately $669 million developer-funded investment that supports roughly 1,343 jobs at stabilization and about 1,854 jobs at maturity, generates approximately $144M-$199M in annual economic output, and opens historically ticketed-only Biscayne Bay waterfront to the public through a new baywalk and green spaces maintained at no direct County cost.
Six lenses on what the redevelopment means for the site, the economy, and the public.
The program is designed around steady, diversified activity across day and evening windows; expanded public access to the County-owned waterfront; and modernizing a unique asset into a destination for residents and visitors.
Phase 1 opens the aquarium, a Fisherman's Village, premium and immersive dining, a surf park, wellness pool, mangrove lagoon, the Golden Dome events venue, and the marina. Phase 2 adds an immersive family experience and a 500-seat theater.
Applying standard IMPLAN/RIMS II construction multipliers to the hard construction cost basis, the four-year build generates significant one-time economic activity across contractors, trades, and the marine-specialty supply chain.
Direct on-site jobs are derived from component-level operating data and extended with Miami-Dade leisure and hospitality multipliers for indirect and induced effects — recurring, year-after-year benefits.
Beyond the economic flow, the redevelopment delivers lasting public benefits — most notably free public access to waterfront that has historically been ticketed-only.
The analysis follows the IMPLAN/RIMS II framework used by economic-development agencies, with a deliberate source hierarchy and clearly stated assumptions so results can be traced end to end.