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Speaker credits Miracle Mile streetscape and private investment for commercial revival
Summary
A Coral Gables resident speaker described decades of investment on Miracle Mile, saying a city streetscape project and a private developer's purchases helped preserve historic buildings while attracting new tenants and restaurants.
A resident speaking during public comment at a Coral Gables meeting described the commercial revival of Miracle Mile and said the city's streetscape project and private investment have preserved historic buildings while bringing modern tenants.
The speaker said Terra Nova was started in July 1980 and that the company bought its first eight buildings on Miracle Mile in February 2004; the portfolio has since grown to 15 buildings plus two office buildings on Alhambra Avenue. "We always had this vision that this could be a great urban street," the resident said.
The speaker credited a city streetscape project and the installation of a so-called "umbrella sky" on Giralda Avenue for changing traffic patterns and encouraging outdoor restaurant seating that, in the speaker's view, energized the street. "That was so successful that that street is never open for traffic and probably never will," the resident said.
As an example of combining preservation with modernization, the speaker described John Martin's, a longtime business whose owners retired. The speaker said the building was purchased and new tenants made a "huge investment in the property and have modernized John Martin's, so it's there for another generation." The speaker repeatedly emphasized balancing respect for historic materials with attracting newer tenants.
The speaker concluded by invoking George Merrick, the founder of Coral Gables: "If George Merrick were alive today ... he would have an ear-to-ear grin and be bursting with pride knowing that the next hundred years are gonna be as good as the last hundred years," the resident said.
No formal motions, votes or staff directives were recorded in the provided transcript excerpt; remarks occurred during public comment and describe the speaker's experience and perspective rather than a city action or policy change.
