Can North Beach finally settle down? | El Nuevo Herald Can North Beach finally come out of its lethargy?

South Florida

by Andres Viglucci

About 20 years ago, Kirk Paskal, an architecture lover and music promoter, moved to the North Beach section of Miami Beach. Back then he thought he had arrived in a little urban paradise.

Like many others, Paskal was amazed by North Beach's distinctive architecture—modest, affordable and typical of the mid-20th century, an area with walkable small-scale buildings and plenty of parks. And above all, the proximity to the sea, the Atlantic on one side, Biscayne Bay and several canals, some navigable, on the other, and in the middle of several islands connected by 14 picturesque bridges.

He soon discovered that the North Beach area had history, authenticity, character, and a wide range of amenities, neighborhoods, and people. A quaint French-inspired fountain on Normandy Isle, a modern bandshell on the beach, suburban-style homes occupied by well-off Beach families and apartment buildings with scented subtropical gardens and densely populated by immigrants and hotel workers.

There were also areas for tourists, such as hotels visited by Frank Sinatra's Rat Pack. In one of them, the old Deauville, the Beatles played on the Ed Sullivan show in 1964.

But it also had worn spots that needed rejuvenation. Much of the population was poor. And when South Beach reached heights no one predicted a few miles to the south, Paskal figured it was only a matter of time before North Beach recovered, too.

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As it was, he purchased a four-unit 1948 Art Deco apartment building on Tatum Waterway, renovated it, and rented three units. He then stayed to live in the other one, and dedicated himself to waiting.

“When I bought it, he thought this neighborhood was amazing, that everyone was going to discover it,” Paskal said.

He is still waiting.

The area, long known as the last frontier of Miami Beach, is inevitably his next hot spot, as he remains stubbornly living in the past.

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Although North Beach never reached the level of impoverishment that overwhelmed South Beach decades earlier, the area—particularly its commercial and multifamily districts—continued to slowly deteriorate. Several city master plans, rezonings and proposals for historic districts like those that launched the renaissance of South Beach have failed to spark much interest or attract new investment.

One of its jewels, the sprawling North Shore Open Space Park, was overwhelmed by weeds, colonized by stray cats and dubious characters. A second gem, Ocean Terrace, North Beach's two-block version of Ocean Drive, saw some of its Art Deco and Miami Modern (MiMo) buildings fall into ruin. Empty shop windows and crime proliferated. A third gem, the 540-room Hotel Deauville, hit by fire and Hurricane Irma, closed its doors and is now plagued by mold, prompting a lawsuit from the city government.

But finally, there are some signs that suggest Paskal's hopes for North Beach may come true.

Refugees from South Beach and young professionals who can't afford to buy in Miami's Brickell and Edgewater have moved in significant numbers into North Beach's relatively affordable rental units. That, in turn, has led to the opening of numerous restaurants and bars, including branches of the hugely popular La Sanwhicherie and Taquizas in South Beach.

The new venues have expanded an offering of Argentine and Italian cuisine, favored by a wave of South American immigrants in the past two decades, who have managed to hold their own amid general decline thanks to a loyal clientele. Newcomers have also brought new life and prospects for a commercial renaissance to the formerly anemic Collins Avenue and the Normandy Isle fountain district.

Allan Lierberman, hotel operator for the South Beach Group, has opened several inns in renovated MiMo-style buildings, originally designed by leading architects of the day, that appeal to a largely European clientele who want to get away from the hustle and bustle of South Beach.

Meanwhile, developer David Martin of the Terra Group is nearing completion of an ultra-luxury condominium tower on Collins Avenue, on the city's edge at 87th Street. The tower, designed by Italian architect Renzo Piano, could become another island for the wealthy, but Martin has built a wide new public esplanade down to the beach. He also gave the city $10 million as a condition of getting the project approved, money that will be used to fund a plan to significantly modernize the Open Space park directly to the south, the city's largest now called North Beach Oceanside Park. .

An Argentine chain called Urbanica The Hotels recently announced plans to build a 200-room hotel on a vacant lot at Collins and 67th Street.

First google search of 2019! Things are already going well https://t.co/lA8kZJvSlv

— Phil Lester Tue Jan 01 00:41:07 +0000 2019

And it is possible that perhaps even more significant projects will be launched.

After failing to convince Miami Beach voters to support a plan to redevelop historic Ocean Terrace, which would have seen much of it demolished, developer Sandor Scher got the Miami Beach Commission to approve a less intensive alternative in July. but still substantial. That alternative calls for his company, Ocean Terrace Holdings, to build a $15 million public green space on oceanfront Ocean Terrace, require the preservation of key historic buildings, and give Scher additional hotel space and permission to build a new tower. residential.

For decades, the city occasionally invested in North Beach, residents say. But not anymore. The municipal government has just inaugurated Altos del Mar Park on the beach, immediately north of Ocean Terrace. City managers have also mentioned a far-reaching, though still undefined, plan to build a $60 million aquatic center with an Olympic-size pool, a new community center, library and covered parking on a large city lot. in front of the North Beach Bandshell, which has been renovated and is running regularly with performances by artists under new management by the nonprofit Fundación Rhythm.

But the initiative that could ultimately shape North Beach's future is a sweeping but unproven plan formulated over several years by hundreds of residents, developers, property owners, activists and preservationists.

The unusual plan, laid out in the 2016 North Beach Master Plan and ratified in a public referendum and a series of commission votes, is intended to balance new higher-rise, mixed-use developments in the area's small downtown along 71st Street with the establishment of two historic districts and a set of rules designed to preserve the neighborhood.

Although often described as a neighborhood, North Beach is actually much larger than that: It is the northern third of the City of Miami Beach, with a population of about 30,000 people, stretching from 63rd Street in the north to the border with Surfside. North Beach comprises at least half a dozen distinctive neighborhoods, including Normandy Isles and Normandy Shores on the largest island in Biscayne Bay, a cluster of resorts along Collins, downtown, the Harding Avenue district and island communities. like Biscayne Point and Park View.

The preservation regulations and historic districts—one in Normandy or the other along the central section of multifamily buildings on Harding Avenue—were created to protect not only the scale and architecture of the area, but also a portion of its heritage. affordable apartments and the people who live in them.

The new guidance for downtown, which allows for micro-units to boost affordable housing, is intended to turn several depleted city blocks into a dynamic, walkable urban district that can anchor broader revitalization in North Beach.

“I'm very optimistic about North Beach,” said Ricky Arriola, a Miami Beach commissioner and a key supporter of the plan, along with former Mayor Philip Levine, who launched the effort while in office. “We have prepared the ground from the legislative point of view for the plan to go ahead. This is going to be the biggest success story in Miami-Dade County in years. Once the quality of life is achieved, it will be very high”.

That concept of quality of life is critical, Arriola and others said.

Although North Beach will always welcome tourists, they say, it should remain a place primarily for locals, as the original design envisioned. Unlike South Beach, the developers who built North Beach thought of their neighborhoods as places where neighbors lived year-round. Even today, its neighbors represent a diverse population of working- and middle-class families, children and retirees, artists and immigrants who have opened restaurants that generate a good portion of their workforce.

Its stability is reflected in North Beach's vibrant synagogues and churches, as well as its well-regarded public and private schools. But the heart of the area is in the apartment districts that line the canals and streets west of Collins, long occupied by immigrants and service workers, many of them Hispanic. Because they earn little, North Beach has a median household income of just $31,890, according to the master plan, far less than Miami-Dade's already low median income of $49,000.

Arriola points out that one of the goals of the master plan is to prevent the displacement of these low-income neighbors.

"There wouldn't be a lot of foreign investors and people buying second homes," he said. “New people will move to the area, but they will be working people. Legislation will preserve the character of the place. Nobody is going to tear down the attractive MiMo-style apartments and replace them with luxury condo towers. We don't want to change the character of the area, what we want is to improve it”.

However, residents and activists fear that a sweeping redevelopment plan will lead to so-called gentrification, which would mean displacing lower-income residents.

Rents have been going up in North Beach for years, said Daniel Veitia, a longtime resident of Normandy Isle and one of the property managers and listing agents in the neighborhood. In 2005, he said, a one-bedroom apartment was $800 a month, but now the same unit rents for up to $1,450 a month, said Veitia, who is on the city's planning board.

That increase, Veitia explained, is mainly due to increases in property taxes and insurance, especially against floods, as well as demand. The cost of renovating dilapidated buildings, roughly $1.5 million for a 12-unit development, puts further pressure on rents because owners and investors need to get their money back, he added.

The consequence, he said, is that apartments in North Beach are increasingly occupied not by working-class families or hotel employees, though many still live there, but by millennials and higher-income couples.

“This neighborhood is getting richer and poorer at the same time,” he said.

Still, North Beach and local businesses desperately need those millennials and their increased buying power, said Veitia, who noted in mid-2019, in the most recent survey, there were 38 empty business spaces in the area.

Veitia said it now remains to be seen whether the new downtown zoning rules, which replaced guidelines he said were too restrictive to attract investors, will be more effective. We have to wait for the proposals to start coming in, he said, but he worries that the area's low incomes could affect the plan.

“We have tried before. I think this time we have the right plan. This really is the key to taking North Beach to the next level. We already saw everything that happens around us in the Beach, but not in North Beach. Nothing has happened here,” he said. “There is concern. Is there enough buying power here to attract investment?

But the new plan gives North Beach a chance to get ahead, he said, arguing that there is room for sensible redevelopment, both downtown and in the historic and conservation districts.

“There may be new projects. There must be new projects. This can be a true community. But it won't be a place where developers can tear everything down and put up new buildings to bring in new neighbors. That's not North Beach. We want to preserve our sense of community. It won't be like Sunny Isles or South Beach. I think we have it under control," he said.

“We gave the developers everything they wanted. If it doesn't materialize, we would be very disappointed."

This story was originally published on January 7, 2020 at 6:00 am.