What does it take to make a place – a place?
What makes it real? What makes it unique?
Our guest on the March 6 Fried on Business, Joseph Furst, certainly knows. He’s been making places with Goldman Properties for many years, and lately he’s been focusing on the artsy Wynwood neighborhood here in Miami.
A managing director at Goldman, Furst said the company’s story in Wynwood started around 2004 when founder Tony Goldman came across the area and created a vision for a pedestrian-friendly, urban environment.
Goldman wanted to make use of the existing artistic movement there to accomplish his goal.
“We thought there were ways to really help launch and continue the arts and make it a world-class destination for art and culture, food and beverage,” Furst said.
“Placemaking is establishing a place with unique content – very special content. We try to deliver things in our portfolio and in our neighborhood that you can’t find anywhere else.”
In Wynwood, Furst said, there wasn’t a residential anchor, so the company set up cultural “beacons” to attract attention and create a desire to live in the area.
Personally, I love the idea. But I’m a little worried that the demands of business might change the unique aspects of the community and destroy its charm.
Furst said that Goldman is seeking to develop the area creatively and carefully. He said a typical urban rejuvenation is fed from the upper floors down by people coming into the area looking for cheaper living space. Then, commercial uses happen on the ground.
At Wynwood, Furst said, it’s mostly a one-story environment, so Goldman has sought to populate the neighborhood through “creative office,” that is, providing opportunities for young entrepreneurs to have a sense of place and their own identity.
Goldman, he said, recently formed a special taxing district in Wynwood in an effort to further improve the business environment.
For me, lately, business has been revolving around coffee. I sometimes meet clients at some of my favorite establishments, including Panther Coffee in Wynwood. So, here’s an example of placemaking leading toward a vibrant business environment.
Furst said the proprietors of Panther Coffee – Joel Pollock and Leticia Ramos Pollock – came from Portland, Oregon. A small batch roasting house didn’t exist in Miami, and they thought the coffee culture in the city would support it.
“They were going to sign a lease a little bit east of Midtown, further north. I had the opportunity to meet them on the street in Wynwood,” he said.
“When Joel and Leticia understood the community-building initiatives we were working on in Wynwood, they understood that it was really more about a sense of place and about placemaking – and that they could be a vital component to our growth in the neighborhood.”
Of course, you’ll need residential space to create a true urban center. So I asked how residential development in Wynwood would differ from that elsewhere in Miami
The new Miami 21 zoning code, Furst said, allows higher urban densities. Through the business improvement district, Goldman has hired a planning consultant and is working on adding density to the neighborhood without destroying its character.
I certainly hope that’s the case. I’d hate to see Wynwood become homogenized and dull, like other Miami redevelopment area that started out fresh and exciting.
Furst said the company is working hard to make sure that doesn’t happen.
“The key for us and the other property owners in the neighborhood is staying true to the vision of unique, authentic, and original,” he said.
He went on to say a lot more about the challenges of increasing density in the Wynwood area and the trend toward a live-work environment there.
Click here to listen to the full interview with Joseph Furst of Goldman Properties about Miami’s Wynwood neighborhood.
