Along Miami River, Derelict Bait Shops Give Way to Luxury Condos
It’s dilapidated, but filled with potential.’”
Paul S. George, a history professor at Miami Dade College
and the author of “Along the Miami River,” which begins its narrative with Spanish troops being entertained by Tequesta Indians on the river’s banks in 1568, said the development in recent years was nothing short of astonishing.
Horacio S. Aguirre, the chairman of the Miami River Commission, said the river’s reputation as a “slummy no man’s land” notorious for “dead bodies, floating cars
and nefarious activities” had made it difficult to attract developers, especially because Miami Beach and other oceanfront locales provided far more rational enticements for moneymaking.
“The Miami River is hot,” said Alicia Cervera Lamadrid, a broker whose firm is handling sales for the Aston
Martin Residences, a 66-story tower under construction on 1.25 acres near the mouth of the river.
But now the river, echoing feverish development in the nearby Brickell neighborhood, along the Miami oceanfront
and on the barrier islands of Miami Beach, is in the midst of a vigorous regeneration of its own.
Major League Soccer stadium
Florida officials set up the commission in 1998 to improve the river’s dismal condition,
and a crucial task, Mr. Aguirre said, was to haul the sunken wrecks and other junk out of the putrid water.
MIAMI — As it meandered through downtown, the Miami River was for years a slovenly mess, its shores
lined with small, scrappy shipyards, bait-and-tackle shops and low-rent marinas with rotting piers.