Few residents of the City of Pleasant Living understand the economic value of South Miami’s commercial district. Our commercial district will provide the residents with a $10 million subsidy this year, providing a family of four with about $3000 in free services. How does that work? The commercial district provides 65% of the City’s revenues, but accounts for just 12% of the City’s expenses. The commercial district is the proverbial goose that lays golden eggs. We need to care for our goose.
All is not well in our downtown. Everyone knows that Shops at Sunset has gradually lost shoppers to the streetscapes of Coral Gables, Coconut Grove, and other malls such as Dadeland, The Falls, and Merrick Park. With less foot traffic, our entire shopping and restaurant district has felt the pinch. For smaller shopkeepers, loss of foot traffic is catastrophic. For residents of South Miami, watch out! A 10% decline in commercial activity would cut services from the residential neighborhoods, equivalent to closing the parks or going without police services two days a week.
What can the City do to revitalize our commercial districts? Glad you asked. Compared to Coral Gables and the Grove, South Miami has very few people living in the downtown. Our apartment district south of the Winn Dixie is less affluent than similar districts north of us. The commercial district would benefit if South Miami could attract young professionals and families to live in and near our downtown. Fortunately, we have a Metro Station that’s a huge draw for the many people who seek out places to live where they can take Metrorail to work in Brickell, Downtown, and at Jackson Memorial Hospital. The commercial district will benefit greatly if we rezone the area around Metrorail to allow more residential development. For example, Valencia Apartments contributes significant property taxes to the City and yet produces no traffic because its residents take Metrorail.
The new owners of Shops at Sunset are masters of transit-oriented development, and they have hired superb architects and planners to remake the largest commercial development in our city. Look for a major renovation of the site, with more airy pedestrian access, shop fronts that face Sunset Drive and Red Road, and a landmark residential component on the north point at Dixie Hwy and Red Road. In addition downtown merchants are forming a Business Improvement District (BID), that will share revenue with the City and reinvest in commerce. It would be a huge help if the 1st National Bank were to PLEASE build a mixed-use project on their vacant parking lot. Finally, 72% of the voters favored creation of a new city hall and police station, which would allow more residential near the downtown, providing more ridership for Metrorail and more foot traffic for our commercial district.
We have good options. Hopefully the City Commission will get the best advice and make the best decisions to care for the goose that lays our golden eggs.
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