March 10, 2011 - MIAMI-The Brickell Financial District is hardly dark at night anymore. New residents and new businesses are driving morning, noon and night activity there—and attracting new commercial real estate prospects.

When the Hampton Inn & Suites Miami Brickell-Downtown comes online later this fall, it will also deliver 10,000 square feet of new retail and restaurant space to the market. The timing seems ideal for the market entry as condos and office space in Brickell continue to fill up.

The 10,000 square-foot street level retail space is the largest contiguous block of restaurant product now available in the Brickell Financial District. Hampton Inn & Suites has engaged Koniver Stern Group to spearhead the leasing.

“We pick and choose the properties we work on and we like this one because it’s new and fresh and well positioned in the market,” Lyle Stern, president of the Koniver Stern Group, tells GlobeSt.com. “The best use of this space is restaurants. There’s an opportunity here to continue to ramp up the neighborhood causal dining.”

Casual dining might be the most appropriate use of the space, considering the Hampton Inn’s status as a mid-range hotel. According to Miami Downtown Development Authority research, about 55% of the market is high-end properties. Put another way, mid-range rooms account for only 1,000 of Downtown Miami’s 6,500 rooms. The Hampton Inn is filling a void in the market, and casual restaurants could complement the mid-range hotel brand.

As Stern sees it, Downtown Miami and the Brickell Financial District are experiencing a classic case of retail following rooftops. With more and more people moving into the area and the number of visitors in Downtown Miami on the rise, he says there are multiple drivers luring retail businesses to the area.

“The Hampton Inn & Suites property offers a pedestrian-friendly location, convenient on-site parking, and a strong built-in customer base,” Stern says. “It’s an ideal setting for a mid-range restaurant in a submarket that has seen diminishing supply.”

Property features include a 210-space parking garage offering parking for restaurant patrons, the availability of monument signage fronting SW 12 street, and close proximity to public transit options, including MetroRail and MetroMover. The hotel will feature a modern, upscale interior design reminiscent of a luxury property.

Bernard Wolfson, president of Miami-based Hospitality Operations—and developer of the Hampton Inn & Suites project—says the hotel’s “mid-market appeal and the Brickell area’s emergence as a hotbed of residential and commercial growth, means our street-level storefronts offer big business opportunity for restaurateurs seeking a presence in the area.”

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