Boom or Bust: Miami

The neighborhood south of 5th street in South Beach is a remarkably high end community, but what is it called? The area is referred to by three names: South Pointe, South of Fifth (SoFi), and Portofino. So, what’s what? Are the names synonymous? Surely there must be a difference.

The nearby Murano’s official name is “The Murano at Portofino” so is the “Yacht Club at Portofino”. So where is Portofino? Presumably on that same spot. The name Portofino seems to be derived from the Porofino Tower, which was the first new skyscraper in the neighborhood. Then, the area started being referred to as South Pointe–the name of the neighborhood’s park. This seemed more logical since it wouldn’t be proper to name a neighborhood after a building, but then came South of Fifth (SoFi).

Suddenly, there were too many names. It seems that SoFi refers to the entire area south of 5th street; including the mid-rise dominated interior and high-rise dominated southern tip. The Portofino and South Pointe titles seem to refer to the extreme southern tip and bay front slither along the west side of the neighborhood. In any case, this matter deserves some clarification prior to Bob’s upcoming Miami Beach Report, which will include a detailed section on this important yet small beach front neighborhood.