Change may finally be coming to the vacant Omni Mall in Edgewater at 500 Biscayne Boulevard as Resorts World Omni, LLC has applied for a construction permit to renovate 24,550 SF into office space. Blufin Construction is the contractor on record for their application. Currently both Resorts World Bimini and Crystal Cruises use 500 Biscayne Boulevard as their headquarter address. Crystal Cruises last year leased 40,000 SF of office space in the Omni Building, adjacent to their Boulevard Shops sales center. Resorts World Bimini and Crystal Cruises are owned by Genting Group, a Malaysian conglomerate that has business interests in leisure, hospitality, plantations, properties, power generation, oil and gas, e-commerce, information technology and biotechnology.
Last year Crystal Cruises began reconstruction of The Boulevard Shops on an adjacent lot at 1401 Biscayne Boulevard. Their plan was unveiled at the 2016 Fort Lauderdale SeaTrade show for the Boulevard Shops project for Crystal Cruises which will include a renovation and expansion of the historic building to offer a cafe and bistro with indoor and outdoor seating, cigar bar and sales center for Crystal Residences. Crystal Residences will be onboard condos featured on 2 of their cruise ships. The renovation of The Boulevard Shops is being designed by architect Richard Heisenbottle.