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This year, 2023, is poised to be the start of significant transformation to Miami Beach, potentially in ways that have not been seen for a 100 years.
In 1923, the then biggest real estate transaction in Miami Beach happened, when James Snowden sold his 15-acre estate located at 44th Street and Collins Avenue (then the largest single family tract on Miami Beach) to Harvey Firestone, president of the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company for $320,000 (or $5.5 million in today’s value, which would be considered a steal then and now). At the same time, Snowden sold investment properties he had north and south of the residence to others, including Edsel Ford. (Today, portions of the Snowden/Firestone estate are part of the Fontainebleau Hotel.)
Firestone was a strong proponent of developing Miami Beach and had previously recruited friends and business associates, including Henry Ford and Thomas Edison, to join him and his family on Miami Beach, which lead to his purchase of the Snowden estate. Firestone envisioned Miami Beach as a retreat but also saw the possibilities of larger groups enjoying the beach and amenities that the island offered. Prior to buying the Snowden estate, Firestone extended an invitation to then President Warren Harding and his wife, Florence, to join him in Miami Beach, with the first couple visiting in March 1923, which further placed Miami Beach in the spotlight for leading investors.
Harding’s visit and Firestone’s “cheerleading” led to the commencement of construction of several residences along Collins Avenue between 48th and 60th. While those residences would eventually give way to the hotels as the area was rezoned, Miami Beach as a desired destination was taking off with Firestone’s investment and that of his business associates. Thereafter, the City would be transformed from a winter retreat to a year-round residential community bringing more opportunities, but early visionaries like Carl Fisher and Harvey Firestone would lead the way toward that development.
Today, like Firestone in the past, other visionary investors have come to Miami Beach looking to take advantage of the benefits of living in Miami Beach. Many of these new residents have flocked to Miami Beach for all the good things our community offers – schools, weather, restaurants, advantage location to Europe and South America. As they come, they are looking to set up family offices close to where they live on the beach. Some are taking advantage of already existing buildings like Starwood Capital Group headquarters to set up small offices from which they can work. However, others want to have their own dedicated spaces and are looking to buy property on the Beach for this purpose, and they are telling their business associates to join them in our fair City.
It is this desire for more class “A” office space within a ten or fifteen minute drive of 41st Street or Lincoln Road that will spearhead the next phase of development on Miami Beach (or failing that will lead people to go to more available spaces in Sunny Isles, Aventura or Surfside). How we, as a City, approach this next visionary phase of development, may well define the City for the next 50 years, similar to how Harvey Firestone’s purchase 100 years ago of a Miami Beach estate was the impetus for growth and development we see today.
