Over the years, Wynwood has lured a parade of widely different denizens: Industrial workers. Manufacturers. Artists. Foodies. Techies. Beer makers. Graffiti artists. Now, a new kind of persona is set to join the eclectic district: Nine-to-fivers.
Much like Coconut Grove, Wynwood is about to become the unlikely home of a slew of new offices, built by developers who want to capitalize on the neighborhood that was recently named one of the hippest in America by TripAdvisor.
The hope is that the new office spaces — with amenities such as 12-foot ceiling heights, open floor plans, artsy facades and proximity to Panther Coffee and The Salty Donut — will attract more of the young creatives and professionals who already work at the 400+ businesses located within the 50-block district.
New office spaces would boost Wynwood’s daytime population and attract potential tenants to the three apartment rental projects under construction in the neighborhood.
“Wynwood now is like Williamsburg was in the early days, when it was beginning its transition to residential use,” said Jonathan Miller, president of the New York-based real estate consulting firm Miller Samuel Inc., referring to a now-hot corner of Brooklyn.
“When you see all this office space coming in, that’s the first step in the balanced development of a new market,” Miller said. “It’s driving a stake in the ground for future residential development, because residential and office feed off each other.”
Four projects currently under construction, when finished, will add nearly 400,000 square feet of offices to the neighborhood.“Wynwood is in its infancy in its evolution,” said Ben Bernstein, co-founder and principal of Brooklyn-based RedSky Capital, which owns nearly five acres throughout Wynwood. “It is nowhere near mature. Brickell is mature. South of Fifth Street [on Miami Beach] is mature. Wynwood is barely in its first inning. It needs to eventually become self-sustaining and that requires everything: Hospitality, retail, office and multi-family.”
The Wynwood Arts District spans 50 city blocks, from Northwest 29th Street south to 21st Street and Northwest Fifth Avenue east to the FEC rail line (source: Miami Herald).
FEB
2019