|
By Anne Tschida
Special to BT
It’s been the gallery hopper’s dream for years now. Ever since Wynwood emerged as a viable – and jumping – arts center, scenesters checking out the numerous exhibits have longed for a few attractive places to grab a drink or a pasta while trading impressions of the shows they’ve just seen.
But those active Wynwood gallery nights only occur once a month, every second Saturday to be exact. The rest of the time, as anyone paying a visit to one of the galleries in the middle of the week can attest, those Wynwood streets are pretty forlorn and decrepit, the buildings pretty empty.
City of Miami officials would like to change all that. They’d like the streets to be busy with pedestrians, and the warehouses filled with cafés and bars and lots of people, art aficionados and then some. The city is trying to ignite a revitalization of the neighborhood by creating something called the Wynwood Arts District. An ordinance to accomplish that passed unanimously at its first reading during the June 26 city commission meeting.
Within the boundaries of this arts and entertainment district, loosely from NW 2nd Avenue over to NW 5th Avenue by way of 25th and 26th streets, 15 liquor licenses will be allowed, and space and parking limitations will be eased. With those enticements, the city hopes bars and clubs and restaurants will move on in.
The idea is based on other special entertainment districts, specifically the one that is currently under review (on second reading) in the Little Havana area, according to the planning department’s spokeswoman, Luciana González.
The thing is, very few people are aware of this Wynwood Arts District proposal – not the gallery owners, not the residents, not even the administrator of the Wynwood/Edgewater Neighborhood Enhancement Team office. Most don’t seem to object to it. They just don’t know anything about it.
Those who are aware of it likely will be the first to profit if the district succeeds. Most prominently that would be Goldman Properties, which owns a number of structures in the specified area, according to Tony Goldman, one half of the father-son team behind the development company.
The Goldmans are well-known and well-respected for a history of helping turn around decaying urban centers without destroying their character. Tony Goldman first bought into SoHo in New York in the 1970s, and it’s well known what happened there next. Ditto South Beach, and Williamsburg in Brooklyn. Several years ago, Tony and son Joey started buying in Wynwood – about 20 properties in all – and now they are looking for a return on their investment.
True to form, Tony Goldman is adamant that this is a city-sponsored incentive project, not a Goldman-sponsored income-enhancer. And he assures that it will lift all boats with the rising tide of activity in Wynwood. He’s clearly passionate about his love for the urban landscape. “This is one of the last beautiful urban centers” in Miami, he says of Wynwood. “In tough economic times, this is an incentive to fill almost-empty buildings in an adaptive re-use of existing, almost-historic buildings.”
Goldman is talking about the warehouses of the district, which are indeed colorful and lovely compared to much of Miami’s architecture. The development team has already taken steps to refurbish some of those buildings, for instance by rehabbing what is now the MOCA Goldman Warehouse, the museum within the proposed arts district that is leased for a dollar a year to North Miami’s Museum of Contemporary Art.
And as Goldman points out, the area is pedestrian friendly, a big plus for urban renewal. People who walk around tend to stick around, he says. “There are wide sidewalks already there, and buildings up to the [property] lines,” all of which encourage strolling – for shopping, for gazing, for dining. In Goldman’s view, the proposed boundaries for the new arts district make sense for this type of pedestrian traffic, from the galleries on NW 2nd Avenue over to the vibrant NW 5th Avenue, which currently is the central drag for the garment wholesale stores.
Those stores, says Goldman, should remain as part of the mix that will make Wynwood unique. “No one wants a generic, gentrified area. If you want brand names, you can go over to Midtown,” he argues. “No 30-story office buildings here. It’s all existing, low-story buildings, warehouses mostly, and it will be designed to keep it to scale – to keep the light and the air.”
For instance, he says, when a restaurant opens, it will be in a space conducive to the cool, minimal look reflective of its warehouse-district roots, “adorned with art. The artistic aspect to the community must remain and be nurtured.”
In the end, hopes Goldman, a critical mass of people will visit, live, and walk the district, acting both as a deterrent to crime and a stimulant to growth, but in keeping with the Bohemian nature of the place.
With incentives like 15 liquor licenses allowed within the district, operating hours till 3:00 a.m., no minimum distances between establishments serving booze, no parking requirements for new businesses opening in old buildings, and other perks, Goldman believes that interested businesses will bite. “I think there will be three or four [restaurants or bars] there in the first year, and four or five right after that. People want to be part of reasonably priced places with interiors like SoHo or Tribeca.”
That critical mass of establishments will be important, as today Wynwood can seem like a scary destination for those looking to buy art and sip cappuccinos. One café won’t change that scenario.
While the concept of a functioning, economically viable Wynwood Arts District jump-started by city incentives is almost universally supported, there are some voices of caution. Gallery owner David Castillo, whose space falls within the proposed boundaries, warns that leaping too quickly could have its pitfalls. “We’d all like this area to be successful,” he says, “but we have to make sure that the foundation is there – a viable artistic community. If things become more expensive, and artists can’t afford to be here, that’s problematic.”
In echoing a vision similar to Goldman’s, he says the arts community needs to be fostered within this new entertainment zone – maybe with special community outreach to the artists who live and work in the area, or discounts on meals at the hoped-for new eateries. The drawback, Castillo says, is that restaurants, bars, and nightclubs, which have a notorious history of closing within a year, will do little to develop the area if they don’t stick.
The city, the county, and developers have piggy-backed on the vibrant arts scene here for a while now, especially after the hugely successful landing of Art Basel Miami Beach in 2002. And rightfully so, as it is arguably one of the most prominent and thriving industries in South Florida. In fact, the proposed Wynwood Arts District ordinance states, “The Wynwood area is an internationally known arts district, that includes art institutions, museums, galleries, collections, studios, and alternative art spaces and warrants the inclusion of distance exemptions for a limited number of establishments….”
But funnily enough, the arts institutions themselves know little about the arts district. “I looked at the map [of the proposed district] and I thought, ‘It’s interesting – for an arts district, half of the art is not in it,’” says Brook Dorsch, whose well-regarded gallery, along with many of those east of the boundary, including those along N. Miami Avenue, are not in the district. He had never heard of the proposal, despite his prominent position in the Wynwood arts scene. “I’ve got nothing against it really, but shouldn’t we who make that term [arts district] be informed of it? Talk about putting the cart before the horse. Or the cart next to the horse.”
That seems to be a widely held sentiment, and a criticism of the city in general – pushing agendas without much input from the public. Says Sarai Portillo of the activist group Miami Workers Center, which has advocated for Wynwood residents: “We just want to be included in discussions. I don’t know about this [ordinance], whether it will be good or not, but still, why don’t we know? You know, we could use a library or a park as well. In general, the city has a tradition of opening its arms to people with money, with developers, without talking to the people here.”
(It remains unclear who in the city bureaucracy was involved in developing the ordinance. Commissioner Michelle Spence-Jones, in whose district this area sits, said via e-mail: “No, I have not been involved in the creation. I think it’s a great idea as long as the local Wynwood community and its residents are involved.” The mayor’s and city manager’s offices did not comment on the origins of the proposal.)
Regardless of whether the idea sprang from some city official or Tony Goldman or his son Joey or someone else, an arts and entertainment district is the way of the future, according to Miami attorney Louis Terminello, considered by many to be an expert on state and local liquor laws. “It’s a wonderful idea,” he says, adding that allowing new liquor licenses is fine, but allowing bars, clubs, and restaurants to locate right next to each other is great – great for business owners as well as consumers. Zoning laws commonly require substantial distances between businesses that serve liquor. Terminello thinks they’re archaic, remnants of old “blue laws” aimed at curbing behavior once considered immoral.
Terminello says his office has already received “four or five” solid inquiries about the proposed Wynwood district. That supports Goldman’s prediction that we might see some restaurants and bars in the area sooner than later.
“Anything that brings business to this warehouse district will be good,” says Albert Zamorano, head of the city’s Wynwood/Edgewater Neighborhood Enhancement Team. It may not be surprising that someone in Zamorano’s position would be a booster of the project, but he hasn’t actually seen the proposal. “To be honest, I haven’t seen the map, but I’m sure anything that brings business to the neighborhood will be good.”
Zamorano and others might not be familiar with the boundaries and other details of the ordinance (a second reading is scheduled for July 24), and city officials might be in the dark as to the plan’s origins, but those with the vision – and money – behind it are confidently leading the way. In fact the mayor’s office, through a spokeswoman, had this suggestion: “Please contact Joey Goldman for further information. He is copied on this e-mail.”
Feedback: letters@biscaynetimes.com
|
