Image: A scenic N.W. 1st Avenue with the Miami Arena to the right
Visionary Mode
It never fails. Every time I am in the vicinity of N.W. 1st Avenue and the old Miami Arena, visionary mode kicks in. Visionary mode, by the way, is when an area’s potential is blindingly bright, despite its existing blighted state. This little section of the CBD is located, more or less, where Overtown meets Parkwest.
Here are 10 11 reasons why I like it:
- The metro rail runs through it and there is a station servicing the area
- The FEC corridor, which is a likely future public transit route runs through the heart of the neighborhood to further supplement the hood’s transit potential
- N.W. 1st Avenue, which runs through the center of the neighborhood, is palm tree lined, and has a spacious median, making the Avenue pedestrian, auto, and eye friendly.
- Glenn Straub owns the Miami Arena and the site represents a potential development catalyst for the area, depending on what the Wellington-based millionaire finally does with the property. At first he considered re-utilizing it, then selling it, now razing it to the ground in place of a new development. He didn’t spend 28 some odd million dollars for nothing. Look to see some action soon.
- Logik, a proposed office development, is planned for the neighborhood
- Miami-Dade Transit recently relocated its offices to a new state-of-the-art building in the neighborhood
- It’s a short walk away from the heart of the CBD, Biscayne Bay, and burgeoning Media and Entertainment District
- Parkwest flanks the east side of the neighborhoods with hundreds of millions worth in new development
- Miami 21 zones it T6, which means it will be ripe and ready for further densification
- The area is heavily under utilized, under valued, and filled with vacant land (this means it’s a blank canvas for new development).
- The FDOT’s future plans to reposition the I-395 would add park space to the northern boundary of the area
Activity
There are currently two large scale residential developments: the Madison and Park Place. The former being a condo and the latter being an apartment complex. The periphery of the area is riddled with low income housing. The average Joe probably wouldn’t feel comfortable riding a bike or walking through this neighborhood due to the presence of vagrants and murky elements. Still, the area, despite its lackluster on-the-surface appearance has much going for it and will likely see a transformation within the next couple of years. Sorry gentrification activists.
Neighborhood Map
Image: Map of the area. The blue line represents the existing Metrorail line, the red line represents the FEC rail line (probable future public transit line), The red plot is the site for the proposed Logik, the green plot represents the new site for Miami-Dade transit, and the Orange represents the Miami Arena.
Awesome post – I love the vision! Who doesn’t look at that pic of palm-lined NW 1st Ave. and wonder how cool it could look?
Hopefully the Miami Arena will become something extraordinary…
Thanks! That image will look completely different in the near future and its hard to imagine something other than extraordinary being built on the Miami Arena site. Take a look at the acquisition patterns of the bordering Parkwest.
Thanks for that link to the other post. I plan on moving from the Beach to Parkwest within a year.
I can really feel an energy buzzing and growing in this area and your posts confirm it. I’m hoping that it can become something great and it’s so conveniently located in Downtown. It’s going to be real desirable neighborhood in the future.
I just wish that the public transport projects would hurry up and get built – ALL of them-we really need train transit going west from Downtown, as we all know.
Also, (again, as we all know) the City needs to work harder to clean up Downtown to help spur retail growth.
Totally agree this all area needs transportation and everything the city promised must be done faast or they will lose credibility
Miami 21 has incorporated a lot in its project They need to kick it in , to extend metrorail and to build the street car…
Transport means the city will start flowing…flow is the key both in quality of life, in going to work in entertaining and in bringing back investment in this part of miami.
The neighborhood is not ready for desirable living, but all the fundamental ingredients are there. The purpose of this post was to highlight the area’s readiness for change.
Parkwest won’t stabilize for two years or so. By stabilize, I mean that construction has subsided, new businesses have opened and begun catering to nearby occupants, and there is adequate security to foster pedestrian activity into the evening.
In order for Parkwest to stabilize, the area interior (the subject of this post) needs to see positive developments, but given the current favorable set up and existing construction activity, Parkwest is primed to become one of the most singular urban neighborhoods in the market. One unlike any Miami has witnessed before.
I have always thought of this area as being perfect for the Marlins. I was just in Chicago this past week and my friend lives right next to Wrigley field, and all I can say is wow. If the Marlins get a nice ball park there, I think this could create a great bar and resturant area in between the metrorail and AAA. Adding smaller to medium sized apartment buildings similar to Chicago would be a great way to cap off the area.
Mind you, I’ve had people tell me that a ballpark does not constitute a positive effect for a neighborhood. I mean some people are baboons. I like your vision. It’s farsighted. Let’s hope the City agrees.