The Miami Lifestyle

This weekend I spent several hours biking on Collins Avenue and A1A with a few of my local cyclist friends. While we are dealing with major oversupply in the real estate market and continued news of major layoffs, we are truly blessed to live in this diverse and beautiful city. Let’s face it, for many living in Miami is a ”lifestyle” choice. While the rest of the country is enduring freezing temperatures or major snow storms, here we are living it up on the beach and swimming in the warm clear azure waters of the Atlantic Ocean.

Miami is growing up. Our downtown area may appear to be a concrete jungle, but if you look closely, it has the makings of one of the most striking urban centers in the world. When is the last time you looked at downtown from across the Biscayne Bay at night? This past weekend the annual Miami Marathon kicked off from the American Airlines Arena. The 26.2 mile race covers one of the most unique courses of all major marathons. In the early morning hours runners pass through and experience the Port of Miami, South Beach, Ocean Drive, Miami Beach Golf Club, the Venetian Isles, Brickell Avenue, Coconut Grove and Key Biscayne. We are constantly spoiled and exposed to major cultural, art, drama and professional sporting events in our city, lest not we forget our incredible architecture, organic farmers markets and a constant flow of international visitors.

This city never ceases to surprise me. Browsing  through the December edition of Ocean Drive Magazine, I read about several new culinary superstars and recent restaurant openings. In the new Fontainebleau Miami Beach, we have Gotham Steak, Scarpetta, Hakkasan and La Cote. In the new W Hotel Miami Beach, which is scheduled to open this Spring, Mr. Chow and Serafina will make their debut. In Miami Beach, we continue to welcome new restaurants such as Gaia Ristorante on Ocean Drive, the famous Parisian restaurant Au Pied De Cochon,  Sean Brasel’s Meat Market on Lincoln Road, Red Steakhouse, Fogo de Chao, and Philippe Chow’s “Philippe” in the Gansevoort South.

We may not have a large employer base, Silicon Valley, nor the most reliable workforce, but we do have something that keeps people wanting to move and live here. It’s a love hate thing. I am confident, however, that for most of us it is a lot more love than hate. This is a special city and we are fortunate to enjoy it in all of her glory.

The “South of Fifth” Neighborhood

I have been spending much time lately working with a number of buyers on the South of Fifth market in Miami Beach. We have looked at properties selling in a range from $400 to $1,200 a square foot, including small six unit modern loft buildings to mega high-rises and family-style resort complexes with pools, jacuzzis, billiard rooms and gyms. This inspired me to learn more about the history and development of the area since the early 1900’s when John Collins developed the world’s largest avocado plantation on Miami Beach.

As with many of Miami’s old neighborhoods, the South of Fifth “SoFi” neighborhood in Miami Beach enjoyed its heydays in the 1950’s. Miami Beach had a reputation as the “American Riviera” with its beaches, hotels, tropical weather, mobsters and star power. However, the area was ethnically divided with SoFi as home to a thriving, mostly Jewish community, while the areas to the north and even some hotels had little tolerance for diversity. A number of hotels had “restricted clientele” rules and some properties transferred with deeds prohibiting “Hebrew blood.”

By the 1970’s, however, SoFi had become a haven for Jewish retirees and the younger generation stopped moving in. As the area declined, the city formed what was known as the “Committee to Keep Greater Miami Beach Young.” Then in 1973, the city created the South Shore Redevelopment Area in an effort to eliminate most of the structures south of Fifth Street. The city leader’s imagined that the $400-million plan would completely revitalize the area. Unfortunately, it all but guaranteed the area’s decline.

Many theories exist as to why the plan failed so dismally, but clearly it influenced property owners to stop taking care of their existing buildings. As the neighborhood was so cheap, it attracted the poor and crime and drugs became rampant. Unfortunately, things continued to get worse and it was not until the mid 1990’s that interest re-emerged to invest in the SoFi area.

Today the SoFi neighborhood represents the success that redevelopment can produce. The area is very safe, it boasts an excellent elementary school, many successful businesses, restaurants, hotels, nightclubs and some of the most expensive real estate on the east coast. Every weekend the beach is packed with locals and tourists and our resident Brazilian soccer stars play “Footvolley” at Third and Ocean Drive. We have one of the highest grossing restaurants in the country, Prime 112, and last year Danny Devito and his partners opened Devito’s at 150 Ocean Drive. It also happens that the SoFi area continues to see record prices that people are willing to pay for a home in one of the most prestigious and active residential neighborhoods in Miami Beach. As an example, one of our clients is selling his condo in the Murano at Portofino, which we just put under contract to an all-cash buyer for $883 per square foot.

“Pura Vida” SoFi.