http://bobmiami.com Ongoing Coverage of Miami's Urban Transformation Mon, 04 Feb 2008 03:07:48 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=MU en http://bobmiami.com/2008/02/04/thank-you-giants/ http://bobmiami.com/2008/02/04/thank-you-giants/#comments Mon, 04 Feb 2008 03:03:30 +0000 Xavier http://bobmiami.wordpress.com/?p=692 ]]> http://bobmiami.com/2008/02/04/thank-you-giants/feed/ xzayvier07 http://bobmiami.com/2008/01/29/a-new-gym-and-three-clowns/ http://bobmiami.com/2008/01/29/a-new-gym-and-three-clowns/#comments Tue, 29 Jan 2008 17:37:43 +0000 Xavier http://bobmiami.wordpress.com/?p=690 The other morning, I stumbled upon the Jose Marti Gymnasium construction site and thought it was a great public amenity for the neighborhood. With this in mind I stopped my car, rolled down the window, and began snapping some shots. Before I could finish, some where in the distance I heard shouts. It seemed to be coming from above me because no one was on the street. I rolled down the window further and heard...]]> http://bobmiami.com/2008/01/29/a-new-gym-and-three-clowns/feed/ xzayvier07 http://bobmiami.com/2008/01/29/collins-avenue-development-activity-expanding/ http://bobmiami.com/2008/01/29/collins-avenue-development-activity-expanding/#comments Tue, 29 Jan 2008 16:47:01 +0000 Xavier http://bobmiami.wordpress.com/?p=689 Image: Formerly Fairwind Seafood Bar and Grill On May 17, last year, I wrote a post on the Collins Avenue Shopping District's relatively rapid emergence and unique attributes. I ended the post by stating: "The shopping district currently ends at 10^th street, but there is room for it to expand northward. Collins, between 10^th and 15^th streets represents an underutilized segment of the storied avenue." Since then, the area north of 10th street on Collins has begun to transform as the anticipated northward expansion of new retail and hotel activity takes place. Structures are getting bought, restored, or demolished to make way for new businesses. South Beach as a neighborhood and international brand has continuously redefined itself. It's in these subtle changes, the motifs within the theme, that you see the redefinition taking place, so that every time a New Yorker or Londoner visits SoBe they feel like the experience has improved. This adaptability, along with the endowments nature has granted the island, is the key to its continued success. Let's see what this expansion looks like on the ground:]]> http://bobmiami.com/2008/01/29/collins-avenue-development-activity-expanding/feed/ xzayvier07 http://bobmiami.com/2008/01/28/jacobo-cababie-dies-of-a-massive-heart-attack/ http://bobmiami.com/2008/01/28/jacobo-cababie-dies-of-a-massive-heart-attack/#comments Mon, 28 Jan 2008 23:27:07 +0000 Xavier http://bobmiami.wordpress.com/?p=688 http://bobmiami.com/2008/01/28/jacobo-cababie-dies-of-a-massive-heart-attack/feed/ xzayvier07 http://bobmiami.com/2008/01/28/foram-group-bullish-on-miamis-class-office-market/ http://bobmiami.com/2008/01/28/foram-group-bullish-on-miamis-class-office-market/#comments Mon, 28 Jan 2008 16:33:45 +0000 Xavier http://bobmiami.com/?p=686 Condo Boom Stimulating Class A Office Development Loretta Cockrum, President of the Foram Group (builders of the Brickell Financial Center) has said that the condo market boom has impacted the demand for Class A office space. Most agree that the condo boom, with all of its problems, does have one major positive aspect: the improvement of Miami's demographics. For Miami, the status quo means mostly low income. Although not likely to quickly change, the incoming occupancy waves in and around the urban core will bring up income levels so that they are more compatible with declining home prices. This demographic improvement, according to Loretta, has and will continue to result in significant high quality commercial development. Local Small Business Owners Uninterested in Green Regarding the "Green" or LEED aspects of the Brickell Financial Center, Loretta stated that local small business owners have been mostly indifferent to...]]> http://bobmiami.com/2008/01/28/foram-group-bullish-on-miamis-class-office-market/feed/ xzayvier07 http://bobmiami.com/2008/01/28/jorge-perezs-announces-1-billion-opportunity-fund/ http://bobmiami.com/2008/01/28/jorge-perezs-announces-1-billion-opportunity-fund/#comments Mon, 28 Jan 2008 14:56:49 +0000 Xavier http://bobmiami.wordpress.com/?p=685 Cash is King At Friday's ULI Conference Related Group principal Jorge Perez announced plans for a $1 billion "opportunity" fund for the purpose of bailing out troubled buyers and expanding assets. Mr. Perez emphasized the scarcity of prime land and claims that the next upswing, whenever that may be, will involve significantly higher acquisition prices--prices that will make today's per square foot values seem minimal in comparison. In a market where cash is king, he aims to demonstrate that his crown shines the brightest...]]> http://bobmiami.com/2008/01/28/jorge-perezs-announces-1-billion-opportunity-fund/feed/ xzayvier07 http://bobmiami.com/2008/01/18/update-on-empire-world-towers/ http://bobmiami.com/2008/01/18/update-on-empire-world-towers/#comments Fri, 18 Jan 2008 20:20:56 +0000 Xavier http://bobmiami.com/2008/01/18/update-on-empire-world-towers/ http://bobmiami.com/2008/01/18/update-on-empire-world-towers/feed/ xzayvier07 http://bobmiami.com/2008/01/17/not-closed/ http://bobmiami.com/2008/01/17/not-closed/#comments Thu, 17 Jan 2008 19:08:23 +0000 Xavier http://bobmiami.com/2008/01/17/not-closed/ http://bobmiami.com/2008/01/17/not-closed/feed/ xzayvier07 http://bobmiami.com/2007/11/20/is-miami-home-to-the-most-foreign-born-residents/ http://bobmiami.com/2007/11/20/is-miami-home-to-the-most-foreign-born-residents/#comments Tue, 20 Nov 2007 19:58:36 +0000 Xavier http://bobmiami.com/2007/11/20/is-miami-home-to-the-most-foreign-born-residents/ Top 100 list of Cities with the Highest Percentage of Foreign Born Residents, the City of Miami ranks fifteenth. Let's take a look at the top twenty:]]> http://bobmiami.com/2007/11/20/is-miami-home-to-the-most-foreign-born-residents/feed/ xzayvier07 http://bobmiami.com/2007/11/20/protecting-the-urban-development-boundary/ http://bobmiami.com/2007/11/20/protecting-the-urban-development-boundary/#comments Tue, 20 Nov 2007 19:03:21 +0000 Xavier http://bobmiami.com/2007/11/20/protecting-the-urban-development-boundary/ http://bobmiami.com/2007/11/20/protecting-the-urban-development-boundary/feed/ xzayvier07 http://bobmiami.com/2007/11/20/commercial-development-outook-central-business-district/ http://bobmiami.com/2007/11/20/commercial-development-outook-central-business-district/#comments Tue, 20 Nov 2007 16:11:10 +0000 Xavier http://bobmiami.com/2007/11/20/commercial-development-outook-central-business-district/ Using the latest DDA Development Activity Report, I created the chart below. It represents commercial space that has been built since 2002, current active construction, and commercial projects that have been approved but remain inactive. Chart: Derived from the DDA Development Activity report, the chart above, which is separated by retail and office use, represents new commercial space added to the market since 2002, current construction, and approved but inactive commercial development. As is the case with Brickell Village, 2008-09 represents a significant hike in new commercial space for the CBD market. At 803,000 sq. ft. of new construction, the Central Business District, ironically, falls short of Brickell Village's over 1.4 million sq. ft. of new office space coming into the market...]]> http://bobmiami.com/2007/11/20/commercial-development-outook-central-business-district/feed/ xzayvier07 http://bobmiami.com/2007/11/14/commercial-development-brickell-village/ http://bobmiami.com/2007/11/14/commercial-development-brickell-village/#comments Wed, 14 Nov 2007 20:56:39 +0000 Xavier http://bobmiami.com/2007/11/14/commercial-development-brickell-village/ The chart below is one of several I prepared that are based on the latest DDA Development Activity Breakdown Report. It represents office/retail development (built, under construction, and approved) from 2002 to mid-2007 in Brickell Village. In an effort to compare DDA data with with an alternative source (to get the best overall picture), I deferred to CBRE's market outlook. Let's look at the DDA derived chart first:]]> http://bobmiami.com/2007/11/14/commercial-development-brickell-village/feed/ xzayvier07 http://bobmiami.com/2007/11/14/update-on-fisher-island/ http://bobmiami.com/2007/11/14/update-on-fisher-island/#comments Wed, 14 Nov 2007 14:48:52 +0000 Xavier http://bobmiami.com/2007/11/14/update-on-fisher-island/ SEIU regarding the situation with workers at Fisher Island: "At www.onemiaminow.org –we are soliciting for creative ways to get to Fisher Island’s exclusive shores (and you get a free t-shirt). We are taking anyone who wants to go with us on Saturday to mingle with the super rich who have been squashing the human rights and civil rights of their workers. We are also keeping up a blog of our own at http://fisherislandwatch.blogspot.com where we are going to start listing the ideas people have come up with so far."]]> http://bobmiami.com/2007/11/14/update-on-fisher-island/feed/ xzayvier07 http://bobmiami.com/2007/11/13/early-week-links-6/ http://bobmiami.com/2007/11/13/early-week-links-6/#comments Tue, 13 Nov 2007 16:26:22 +0000 Xavier http://bobmiami.com/2007/11/13/early-week-links-6/ http://bobmiami.com/2007/11/13/early-week-links-6/feed/ xzayvier07 http://bobmiami.com/2007/11/12/residential-development-the-height-factor/ http://bobmiami.com/2007/11/12/residential-development-the-height-factor/#comments Mon, 12 Nov 2007 22:30:33 +0000 Xavier http://bobmiami.com/2007/11/12/residential-development-the-height-factor/ Brickell Village is seeing the most high density development (mainly residential) with over 13,000 units built or under active construction since 2002, but what about the height race? Let's see what the figures say:]]> http://bobmiami.com/2007/11/12/residential-development-the-height-factor/feed/ xzayvier07 http://bobmiami.com/2007/11/12/residential-development-actual-vs-speculative/ http://bobmiami.com/2007/11/12/residential-development-actual-vs-speculative/#comments Mon, 12 Nov 2007 01:14:20 +0000 Xavier http://bobmiami.com/2007/11/12/residential-development-actual-vs-speculative/ DDA Development Activity Breakdown Report 2002-2007: Chart: Each bar represents one of the three primary urban core segments. Brickell is combined with West Brickell; the CBD with Parkwest and South East Overtown; the Media and Entertainment District with Wynwood, Edgewater, and the Midtown vicinity). Red means speculative development--approved but inactive/unbuilt. Blue means real development--units built or under active construction. HIGH DENSITY RESIDENTIAL IN THE THREE CORE AREAS The chart above (2002 to 2007) is intended to weigh actual development against speculative development. Speculative constitutes approved but inactive projects--not under construction. Actual development represents projects built or under active construction. Let's see what the numbers say about the three primary areas of the urban core:]]> http://bobmiami.com/2007/11/12/residential-development-actual-vs-speculative/feed/ xzayvier07 http://bobmiami.com/2007/11/09/weekend-links-5/ http://bobmiami.com/2007/11/09/weekend-links-5/#comments Fri, 09 Nov 2007 12:41:53 +0000 Xavier http://bobmiami.com/2007/11/09/weekend-links-5/ http://bobmiami.com/2007/11/09/weekend-links-5/feed/ xzayvier07 http://bobmiami.com/2007/11/08/wake-up-fisher-island-a-documentary/ http://bobmiami.com/2007/11/08/wake-up-fisher-island-a-documentary/#comments Thu, 08 Nov 2007 21:43:45 +0000 Xavier http://bobmiami.com/2007/11/08/wake-up-fisher-island-a-documentary/ http://bobmiami.com/2007/11/08/wake-up-fisher-island-a-documentary/feed/ xzayvier07 http://bobmiami.com/2007/11/08/tracking-densification-in-the-urban-core-intro/ http://bobmiami.com/2007/11/08/tracking-densification-in-the-urban-core-intro/#comments Thu, 08 Nov 2007 18:36:25 +0000 Xavier http://bobmiami.com/2007/11/08/tracking-densification-in-the-urban-core-intro/ Urban Core, Defined When the term "urban core" is used here, it refers to three areas or segments in the center of Miami:

• Uptown (north of the I-395 & south of the I-195)
• Central Business District area (north of the Miami River & south of the I-395)
• Brickell Village (south of the Miami River).

Some would argue that the core's boundaries exceed what I've mentioned. Others that it is less. For now, I feel comfortable with the three segment approach...]]> http://bobmiami.com/2007/11/08/tracking-densification-in-the-urban-core-intro/feed/ xzayvier07 http://bobmiami.com/2007/11/08/borges-associates/ http://bobmiami.com/2007/11/08/borges-associates/#comments Thu, 08 Nov 2007 15:37:19 +0000 Xavier http://bobmiami.com/2007/11/08/borges-associates/ Borges and Associates brings to mind sharply designed loft developments. Although specializing in many aspects of their field, including urban planning, interior design, and architecture, Borges and Associates' bread and butter is the loft project. Here is a short list of...]]> http://bobmiami.com/2007/11/08/borges-associates/feed/ xzayvier07