Category Archives: Uptown: Wynwood Arts District
Development Outlook: Midtown Miami & Vicinity
Image: Midtown Four and Midblock
The Foremost Symbol of Miami’s Emerging Urbanism
Midtown Miami is, in many ways, the most obvious symbol of Miami’s rapid urban transformation. It exhibits Miami’s architectural star power, represents the most ambitious push west for urbanism in the city thus far, sits on a formerly blighted and infrastructureless area of the city, and incorporates large-scale commercial and residential elements. For all intensive purposes, it is a city-within-a-city.
Image: The shops at Midtown Miami’s northwest side
The Skeptics Viewpoint
Yet, despite this, there are those that recall the past failure of the much hyped Omni Mall when considering Midtown’s prospects for success. However natural this historic allusion may seem, the Omni, which never had the residential component Midtown has, is currently owned by a New York-based firm with billion dollar plans that span 10-15 years. Suffice to say times have changed. Then there are those that claim the project is… Continue reading
Biscayne Blvd. Planned Resurfacing & Uptown’s Retailization
Image: Section of Biscayne Boulevard in the Upper East Side undergoing an extensive reconstruction.
Biscayne Boulevard is undergoing extensive work along the CBD, but the area north of the I-395 up to 36th street, represents a separate phase of Biscayne Boulevard’s enhancement, and is currently unaffected by the Boulevard’s improvement initiative. According to DDA records, the work in the Uptown section of Biscayne Boulevard is expected to begin sometime this year with completion slated for 2008. An area that is currently affected by resurfacing work is Biscayne Boulevard north of 55th Street where stores with US-1 frontage are facing bulldozers, barricades, and crawling auto traffic. There’s little doubt as to the negative effect that the resurfacing initiative is having on those businesses. As a retailer, you don’t want a construction site situated on your front door step. As a consumer, you don’t want to have to traverse through construction traffic, dust clouds, and fragmented roads unless you have to… Continue reading
Signs of Urban Life: Retail Oulook (Uptown’s Pros – M&E)
Image 1: An under utilized retail structure with blue awnings on NE 24th street and Biscayne Boulevard is shown in the foreground with new developments surrounding it.
Continued from Signs of Urban Life: Development Outlook (Uptown’s Woes)
Uptown is the largest of the three primary urban core segments (CBD and Brickell Village being the other two). It contains four unique sub-segments:
- Media and Entertainment District
- Edgewater
- Wynwood Arts District
- Midtown Miami & vicinity
Map: Uptown and its four subsegments are shown above. The Media and Entertainment District is shown in blue, the Midtown Miami vicinity is shown in yellow, Edgewater in green, and Wynwood in red. Continue reading
Staples Store to Open in Uptown
Image: Site of the under construction Staples store. Paramount Bay is seen under construction to the right. The new Staples store will stand on Biscayne Boulevard and N.E. 22nd Street next to Paramount Bay (under construction). Cite, with its new … Continue reading
Signs of Urban Life: Development Outlook (Uptown’s Woes)
Image: FEC Corridor facing north toward Midtown
There are many factors that influence retail and development activity. This installment is intended to describe those factors that are negative and may slowdown progress in the Uptown area, which is east of the I-95, north of the I-395, south of the I-195, and west of Biscayne Bay (the area includes: the Media and Entertainment District, Wynwood Arts District, Midtown Miami, and Edgewater)… Continue reading
FDOT-Owned Land Across Carnival Center Cleared
Image: FDOT-owned parcel being cleared (PAC is seen in right corner of image)
Weeks ago I noticed the demolition of an abandoned building across from (south of) the Carnival Center. Then I started getting questions emailed to me regarding this same issue. The building sat on FDOT owned land (1200 Biscayne – former site of Opus 2)–directly in the path of… Continue reading
Scooting Around Uptown
Image: Biscayne Boulevard cruisin’
At a ULI conference last May, a V.P. of Cushman Wakefield mentioned a bike and scooter shop in Uptown on 19th street and Biscayne Boulevard as being an indicator of urban progress. He said, “a few years ago I would never have imagined a bike shop in that area.” Continue reading
Biz Buzz: New to N.E. 2nd Avenue (Uptown)
Map of the area: N.E. 2nd Avenue is shown in green and Midtown Miami in blue
Economic Artery in the Making?
N.E. 2nd Avenue, which runs parallel to Biscayne Boulevard and the FEC Corridor in Uptown, has remained largely untouched by new development. This north-south thoroughfare is important because it links to the Performing Arts Center, Midtown Miami, the Design District, and is next to Edgewater and the Wynwood Arts District. Currently, the Avenue is mostly dotted with vacant lots and decrepit buildings for sale, which indicates a ripeness for transformation, but change, although small, is already turning N.E. 2nd Ave into something of an economic artery. Let’s take a quick gander: Continue reading
2007 Third Quarter Construction Tour: Uptown/M&E
This week’s Miami 2007 3rd Quarter Construction Tour ends with Uptown and the Media and Entertainment District:
- For the Brickell Village tour click here
- For the Central Business District tour click here
The Herald Spotlights Midtown Miami
I’m happy, joyful even, to see the Miami Herald put Midtown Miami on its Wednesday Final Edition front page. The article refers to the mega-project’s long term effects on the surrounding area; something I have long since emphasized to be … Continue reading
