A mixed-use project promising to deliver the largest wellness facility in downtown Miami has broken ground.

Construction recently started on Legacy Hotel & Residences, slated to bring a condo, hotel and health care center to the 27-acre Miami Worldcenter project. Legacy's developer will partner with Adventist Health, which bills itself as the nation's largest faith-based health system.

Miami-based Royal Palm Cos., led by Daniel Kodsi, will develop the 1.53-acre property at 942 N.E. First Ave. Legacy Hotel & Residences will rise 50 stories, with 310 branded condos available for short-term rentals, a 219-room hotel, and the 120,000-square-foot health and wellness center.

The latter component was pre-leased for 10 years to Blue Legacy Ventures, a joint venture between Royal Palm Cos. affiliate Legacy Medical Holdings and Adventist Health. The nonprofit owns hospitals in California, Oregon and Hawaii. The Miami facility will be operated through its Blue Zones subsidiary, a company Adventist Health acquired in 2020. Blue Zones is a preventative health company.

Kodsi said the Blue Zones facility won’t be a typical health care center. It will teach people how to live healthier lifestyles with fitness, meditation, and healthy eating.

“They want to blend hospitality and health care and change the world of health care,” Kodsi said. “It will be completely different from anything that has been done.”

There will also be physician offices, labs, pharmacy, diagnostic equipment, and some outpatient surgery.

Kodsi said the Blue Zone health care facility will be a benefit for the community, as well as people who stay at the Legacy Hotel, who can utilize special membership plans.

"Creating the first Blue Zones Center and integrated large-scale lifestyle medicine center marks our commitment to move beyond sick care," said Bill Wing, president of Adventist Health. "It will also establish a model and lead the way to the fusion of care, health and well-being."

As for the condos, Kodsi said they are 100% sold out at about $160 million, with broker Peggy Olin of OneWorld Properties leading the sales effort. Because of the Covid-19 pandemic, virtually all of the condos were sold through Zoom, Kodsi said.

The units will range from 350 to 850 square feet. They started at $360,000, although most of them were priced from $450,000 to $500,000, Kodsi said.

Most of the condo buyers are investors who own second homes and want to rent them out when they aren’t here, Kodsi said.

The hotel will be operated by Accor under the Morgan’s Originals portfolio.

Amenities will include a one-acre pool deck with three pools, a rooftop pool, and a seven-floor rooftop atrium with a restaurant, bar and lounge. Kodsi said there would be many health-focused features in the building, such as medical-grade air filtration systems, voice-activated elevators, touchless room key access, and cleaning robots.

“This will be a Hong Kong-style international hotel,” Kodsi said.

The general contractor of the project is Fort Lauderdale-based Moss Construction. It was designed by Miami-based Kobi Karp Architecture.

It should be completed in 36 months, Kodsi said.

The developer acquired the property for $33.9 million in December 2020.