The Emergence of the Arts + Entertainment District

As if out of thin air a new neighborhood has emerged in Miami the Arts + Entertainment District an area located north of Park West south of Wynwood and west of Edgewater When I first heard of the newly coined neighborhood my first thought was Thats silly you cant just create a neighborhood out of thin air But thats exactly what NR Investments did and their PR firm is doing a helluva job in making the name stick Its a gutsy play but one that could pay big dividends for NR Investments if things go according to plan

See NR Investments has a sizable stake in the area Not only do they own Filling Stations Lofts the 81 unit rental development located at 1657 North Miami Avenue they also own a one acre parcel located between Northeast 14th and 15th Streets with plans to one day develop a mixed use project on that site

Most notably NR Investments is the developer behind the 37 story preconstruction condo development called Canvas located at 1630 Northeast 1st Avenue In October 2013 they acquired Canvas 11 acre site at a bankruptcy auction for $72M Last October just one year later NR Investments dubbed the area the Arts + Entertainment District and kicked off its launch with a community event featuring free food coffee and WiFi But they didnt stop there Since then weekly events have been held at Filling Station Lofts or their Canvas sales location These events have included such offerings as live music yoga classes food and drinks a social media workshop and most recently a risque circus show featuring aerial acrobatics all free to community participants

NR Investments has taken the if you build it they will come approach with it being community and they being residents who in turn it is presumed would attract the interest of buyers both near and far The Arts + Entertainment District even has its own website and the awareness that is brought to the area via its social media channels is on point again hat tip to the PR firm Their commitment to the neighborhood shines through in the content that is produced and published To see what I mean follow them on Twitter and Instragram

But NR Investments is no longer the only major player with a vested interest in seeing this emerging neighborhood succeed This past January Rebuild Miami Edgewater LLC purchased for $64M the 735 acre lot located directly north of Canvas and east of Parc Lofts at the corner of Northeast 2nd Avenue and Northeast 17th Street The site which is to include hotel retail and residential components is zoned for up to 3 million square feet Just last week it was announced that a boutique 200 room hotel called Vīb will setup shop there with groundbreaking to occur this November

In and of itself news of the 735 acre lot finally being developed is huge In 2005 when closings for units at Parc Lofts began I remember there being talk of development plans that were all but inevitable for that site It was to be a big box retail center called Bayview Market But alas it never happened The plan got scrapped and the land sat empty for all these years

Marketing ploy or not it appears that NR Investments plan is working With prices averaging $475 per square foot 40 percent of Canvas 513 total units have already been reserved and thats saying something What NR Investments has done with the neighborhood in such a short amount of time is quite simply incredible Creating community is no easy task In fact its a huge undertaking one that requires commitment consistency and patience Thus far theyve done a spectacular job in bringing residents together and providing an identity to an area of Miami that had been lacking Undoubtedly this is an exciting time for this emerging neighborhood In the coming year it will be interesting to see the type of capital this area is able to attract from other developers andor investment groups