MIAMI – The times, they are a-changin’.
The owner of Miami clothier Austin Burke paid $300,000 for their Wynwood spot back in the 1980′s. Now, preparing to close their doors, the owners just sold the 2601 NW Sixth Ave. building for $7.5 million.
Jeremy Larkin brokered the deal.
“What you’re seeing happening is, basically, gentrification moving up the coast,” said Larkin. “Brickell has already been fully established, Downtown Miami is in the process of being established, and now you’ve got Midtown, the Design District and Wynwood.”
Which went from what Larkin said was a dangerous place to an arts and graffiti hub to the hip, cool place to be.
“Which is great, but you can’t just function on that type of activity,” said Larkin.
Then come the developments for living and working, shopping and eating.
“Because of the huge growth, and COVID really helped, take what was going to probably be a 10, 15 year cycle, and compressed it in about 18-24 months,” Larkin said.
Added Yony Bornstein, President of the Wynwood Community Enhancement Association: “We really wanted to see the good, the bad and the ugly of what was going on in the neighborhood.”
Which is kind of a tale of two Wynwoods, everything south of 29th Street and everything north.
“We have a lot of the bones of the neighborhood, we have the parks, we have the schools, we have a lot of community infrastructure,” said Bornstein.
What Bornstein and members of the Wynwood Community Enhancement Association are working to preserve in Wynwood Norte, as they’ve dubbed it.
“To ensure that local residents have a say in what is going on, and what is the future of this neighborhood,” said Bornstein.
Something Wil Vasquez, whose roots go back some 50 years, says is key to keeping Wynwood, Wynwood.
“We don’t want to displace people or get to the point where small businesses can no longer stay in the neighborhood,” he said. “This is where the community comes together. Wynwood has a good future ahead, now.”