Miami’s Popular and hip Design District is home to some of the leading interior design houses and companies in the country, and also is the recent home to some of the most progressive and luxurious pop up shops resulting from Art Basel. It is also home to some of the best restaurants in Miami, being Micheals Genuine, which won a New York Times award for top ten restaurants in the country. The keeper of 65% of these retail spaces and the owner of 51 properties is the commercial group Dacra, run by a longtime developer of South Beach and the Miami in general, Craig Robbins. Craig Robbins has sought to extend their reach further with a plan to give the design district a facelift to the tune of $312 million.
Robbins and Dacra introduced this project under the “Special Area Plan” portion of Miami 21 zoning code and it is already in line with the zoning, however they are seeking to close 39th street for 4 blocks to create a small scale promenade for pedestrians and will have department stores on either end. They are in talks with luxury giant Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy, which indicates that these shops will likely be more upscale than Bal Harbour. The design district is already home to an Hermes, Tom Ford and Burberry. Further, they have a hotel and 100 unit residential community within the plans. These would have to be specially voted in since there is no residential zoning, however it would be very exciting in terms of real estate. In addition, the entire plan is green with sod roofs and mature shade providing trees. We look forward to watching this development.
