Miami's Design District Now Totals 1 Million Square Feet
According to The Wall Street Journal, the Design District in Miami has almost doubled in size since last year, now offering about one million square feet worth of restaurants, entertainment, boutiques, and galleries for Art Basel visitors (and beyond).
Bounded by N. Miami Avenue and NE 2nd Avenue and stretching roughly from NE 38th Street to NE 42nd Street, the Miami Design District boasts a bevy of shops, restaurants, sculptures, and museums that have cropped up between 40th and 42nd Streets, adding to its impressive year-over-year jump in square footage.
Within those streets sit cultural offerings like the Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami, and Swiss artist Urs Fischer’s new public sculpture, “Bus Stop.” Sought-after shops like The Goop GIFT pop-up store from actor Gwyneth Paltrow are nearby, and two new projects are in the works, as well. ABC Kitchen, a spinoff of the popular New York eatery (attached to furniture mecca ABC Carpet & Home), opens next September, and The Museum Garage, with its mashup of facades from six different architecture firms, will open in February.
The Design District was founded and is owned by Craig Robins, a real estate entrepreneur who says the area is “going from a really beautiful neighborhood with great stores” to a more cohesive, authentic neighborhood that retains a creative edge. Just about a mile southwest in Wynwood, growing pains have led to rifts between developers and local planning boards, the latter of which recently rejected plans for a mixed-use space that would reduce the availability of affordable housing.