A rendering of the $60 million Center for Health + Performance to rise as part of Miami Worldcenter's Legacy Hotel & Residences. (Photo: Courtesy Photo)

The newest addition to downtown's Miami Worldcenter is a hotel-condominium with a 100,000-square-foot health care center that can provide medical assistance similar to hospitals with ventilators, MRIs, CT scans and surgical suites.

The approach is a response to changes emerging because of the coronavirus pandemic and travelers and condo buyers who were increasingly health conscious before the emergence of COVID-19.

Legacy Hotel & Residences will have a 256-key Legacy hotel, 274 microLUXE-branded residences and a 100,000-square-foot Center for Health + Performance, or CH+P.

The combination residential-health care center will be part of the 27-acre Miami Worldcenter with multifamily, condominium, hotel and retail elements at  942 NE First Ave.

The $60 million CH+P was planned pre-coronavirus, but the pandemic prompted design changes for the entire Legacy Hotel & Residences to make it even safer and cleaner.

The building will be touchless, starting with voice-activated elevators and computer-controlled  sterilization cleaning. Common areas in the hotel will be cleaned with ultraviolet light wands.

The tower will have medical-grade air filtration system, a design change prompted by the pandemic. Previously, this was planned only for the health center.

CH+P will allow the Legacy hotel to stay open during any future pandemic.

Miami-based Royal Palm Cos., led by Dan Kodsi, is developing Legacy after completing Miami Worldcenter's Paramount condo tower last year.

The hotel will be a pandemic refuge, he said in a news release.

"During the worst of times, Legacy will be one of the cleanest designed buildings you can shelter safely in during pandemics — with access to health professionals, a pharmacy, medical-grade air quality and cleaning, food delivery and more," Kodsi said. "If you do get sick, advanced medical help is just downstairs from your room for a safe place to quarantine while you recover, close to family and loved ones staying nearby in the building."

CH+P will be connected to the hotel and staffed and equipped much like a hospital. Aside from the MRIs and CT scans, it will include other imaging capabilities such as mammograms, X-rays and ultrasounds. The health care center will have a pharmacy, dispensary, surgical suites mainly for elective procedures and laboratory. The staff will include onsite and on-call doctors and nurses as well as other health care professionals such as nutritionists.

Royal Palm is in talks with medical institutions tied to hospitals to secure one of them as CH+P's operator.

CH+P also will be a wellness center for preventive care, offering hotel guests and unit owners a way to track their health history as well as access to a spa and health care programs.

The condo portion atop the hotel will range from studios to three-bedroom units.

Construction is to start this fall for completion in 2022.

Stephen Watson leads Royal Palms' medical and wellness programs on the project.

"One of the many impacts of COVID-19 will be a more informed and hyper-cautious traveler that will be looking for hotels and vacation homes that prioritize their health and safety without sacrificing that luxury lifestyle experience they are accustomed to," he said in a news release. "Legacy is catering to a new wave of consumers who will be increasingly invested in their health and wellness when making any future travel or real estate decisions."

Read more about Miami Worldcenter: 

citizenM Hotel Construction Starts at Downtown's Miami Worldcenter

Miami Worldcenter Is Adding Luxury Condo-Hotel Tower