What happened to the lazy, stately and peaceful Brickell Avenue we once knew?

In 1974, I remember standing in my father’s office in our new 11 story 1000 Brickell Building development, which towered over everything else on Brickell Avenue in Miami, hearing my father’s explosion of frustration that he was going to have to pay $3 a SF for the parcel of land he needed to build the parking garage behind our office. “$3 a SF! No one has ever paid $3 a SF for Brickell Avenue land!” Brickell Avenue wasn’t even in downtown Miami. It was mostly comprised of stately old homes with an occasional small apartment building. Well, guess what? Last month I paid $666 per SF for the lot I needed to build my parking garage for our new project on Brickell…40 years later!

My father wouldn’t believe it today.

In the last US census, it was determined that Brickell Avenue and the surrounding area was the densest population south of Manhattan. And that was before the new wave of developments that began in 2013, which when completed will nearly double the size of Brickell Avenue. Brickell Avenue, comprising the area from the Bay to the Metrorail in Miami, is becoming the 24-hour a day city that city planners dream of. It will have the combination of city and commercial services that make for an ideal urban living environment:

Yes, there will be lots of traffic congestion, but it will force us to use much more efficient rapid transit in the metrorail and metromover systems, and downtown Miami trollies. Ground Zero for the New Brickell Avenue is the 5.4 million SF Brickell City Center, which is going to provide the mixed-use anchor for the retail shopping, office tenants and residents, and hotel guests.

The future of Brickell Avenue is a self-contained city that should offer the best of both worlds for the young professional and the Latin American visitor. It will be the fun place to live and work, and shop and play without the need for the expense of a car or hours of wasted time burning gasoline and commuting through rush hour traffic.

A new Brickell Avenue in Miami? Bring it on!

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