For generations, a waterfront lifestyle in South Florida has meant driving east. Miramar Cove is being built to change that, bringing a swimmable waterfront, a beach, waterfront dining, and a walkable town center to West Broward for the first time. In a recent conversation on The Built World Podcast, Andy Ansin, CEO of Sunbeam Properties & Sunbeam Development, walked through how the 125-acre destination came together and why he believes it will reshape the way people live in this part of the region. The podcast features the biggest names in South Florida real estate.
Here is what that conversation revealed about the project taking shape at Miramar Parkway and Red Road, which broke ground in May 2026.
A Waterfront Destination Built Around the Water
Ask Ansin what makes Miramar Cove different, and the answer starts with the water. Nearly one-third of the 125-acre site is dedicated to water, centered on a 5.5-acre Blue Mar Basin with translucent blue water.
The basin will function as the heart of a full town center rather than a standalone amenity. Apartment buildings and restaurants will sit directly on the water, with a boardwalk running along the shoreline so visitors can dine at the water’s edge. Nightly fountain shows, choreographed to music and lights, will activate the basin and give people a reason to gather with family and friends.
“It’s going to be amazing,” Ansin said of the half-mile of water frontage the project will create. For a market where a waterfront experience has always meant driving east, that is a meaningful shift.
Why the Basin Has to Be Swimmable, and White
One of the more memorable moments in the interview was Ansin explaining a design detail most people never think about. He originally wanted the bottom of the basin to be light blue, believing it would make the water look even bluer. He learned that a man-made swimmable body of water needs a white bottom for safety, so lifeguards can clearly see anyone below the surface.
It is a small detail, but it says a lot about how Miramar Cove is being built. The Blue Mar Basin is not a decorative feature. For residents of the multifamily buildings, it is a genuinely swimmable waterfront with their own private beach. The cove is engineered by Martin Aquatic, the Orlando firm behind water-driven destinations like Royal Caribbean’s Perfect Day at CocoCay and Baha Mar in The Bahamas. The water is monitored and treated automatically, with the system adjusting chemistry and circulation to keep it clean.
Residents will have access to their own beach club and a residents-only area of the basin for swimming, with the beach for sunbathing and socializing. The rest of the basin is designed for visitors and residents to enjoy together, whether riding gondolas, kayaking or simply spending time along the shore.
An Idea Ignited by the Miramar Park of Commerce
Ansin traced the idea for Miramar Cove back to the pandemic, when companies at the adjacent Miramar Park of Commerce were struggling to bring employees back to the office.
The Park of Commerce is home to more than 15,000 employees across 165-plus national and international companies. Ansin realized that a destination like Miramar Cove, placed right next door, could make it easier for those companies to attract talent, while giving those same 15,000 workers a natural place to live, dine, and relax. Miramar Cove will offer the amenities office workers often enjoy before or after work, including restaurants, shopping, places to gather with colleagues, fitness options and waterfront walks where they can unwind. The two properties are designed to reinforce each other.
That is the logic behind the “15-minute community” Ansin talked about on the podcast: a place where housing sits near employment, and where retail, dining, entertainment, parks, and waterfront amenities are all within a short walk or bike ride. It is a model usually reserved for dense urban cores, brought to an inland West Broward setting.
What Miramar Cove Will Include
Miramar Cove is entitled for approximately 2,800 residential apartments, roughly 400,000 square feet of retail, dining, and entertainment, around 125,000 square feet of Class A office, and a full-service hotel of about 185 keys. More than 40 acres are set aside for parks and open space, including a five-mile network of walking paths, Founders Park, and a natural estuary with trails. The daily fountain shows featuring lights, music and dancing water will bring something South Florida has never seen. It’s the kind of moment that stops people in their tracks and stays with them long after they’ve gone home, whether they’re residents, visitors, shoppers, or hotel guests.
The first phase of Miramar Cove, now underway, includes the 5.5-acre translucent blue water cove; water features including daily fountain shows featuring lights, music and dancing water; three apartment buildings totaling about 1,100 units; and a portion of the retail and restaurants. The initial phase is expected to open in the fourth quarter of 2028.
Ansin was candid on the podcast about pacing the office and residential components to match demand, a reflection of the long-term, owner-driven approach Sunbeam brings to the project. Because Sunbeam finances its first phases from its own capital base rather than relying on outside partners, it can make decisions with a generational time horizon and prioritize the quality of the experience over squeezing every dollar out of the site.
A Family That Knows This Market
The Ansin family’s roots in South Florida run three generations deep. The family built the Miramar Park of Commerce into one of the region’s premier business hubs and will soon relocate the family-owned WSVN-7 to a new home just steps away. Miramar Cove is an extension of the commitment the Ansin family made to that community a long time ago.
What comes through in the conversation is a deep belief in South Florida and a genuine pride in what this region is becoming.
Bringing the Waterfront to West Broward
The through line of Ansin’s comments, and of Miramar Cove itself, is a simple idea: bring the waterfront to a part of South Florida that has never had one. West Broward has grown quickly, drawing hundreds of thousands of residents to Miramar, Pembroke Pines, Weston, and Davie. Over one million people now live within fifteen minutes of the Miramar Cove site. Yet a true waterfront lifestyle, with waterfront dining, swimming, and gathering spaces, has largely required a drive east to Miami or Fort Lauderdale.
Miramar Cove is designed to change that. As Ansin put it, the goal is bringing the waterfront to southwest Broward. With Hard Rock Stadium just minutes away and its 100-plus events a year, easy access to Florida’s Turnpike and I-75, and a walkable town center anchored by swimmable water, the project is positioned as a regional destination.
Listen to the Full Conversation
Beyond Miramar Cove, Ansin shares stories about growing up in the WSVN newsroom, his decades of free diving and spear fishing, and a proposed condominium development in North Bay Village changed the way the industry saw him. It is a candid look at one of the people shaping South Florida’s built environment, and at the thinking behind a project that aims to redefine what is possible in West Broward.
You can find the full episode with Andy Ansin on The Built World Podcast on YouTube, Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
Want updates on Miramar Cove? Follow along as construction progresses toward the Q4 2028 opening. Sign up for our newsletter and follow us on social.
About the Author
James Bry is Executive Vice President of Development at Sunbeam Properties & Sunbeam Development, where he oversees the company’s mixed-use development portfolio. The portfolio includes Miramar Cove, a 125-acre waterfront community bringing a 5.5-acre translucent blue water cove, residential, retail, office, and hospitality space to Miramar, Florida in Southwest Broward. He brings over 30 years of real estate development experience, including senior leadership roles at Seritage Growth Properties (NYSE: SRG) and Vornado Realty Trust (NYSE: VNO), where he oversaw tens of millions of square feet in large-scale development and construction. James holds a Master’s in Architecture from Tulane University.
Connect with James on LinkedIn
Miramar Cove 