River renaissance: after decades of neglect, the industrial Miami River is now an urban redevelopment hotspot. Lofts, new restuarants and high rises are transforming its banks. Can a balance be struck between the historic waterway and the historic invasion of urban chic?

South Florida CEO, Sept, 2003 by Johanna Marmon

On a blustery morning at the beginning of August, a group of about 40 children--all wearing their summer camp's same brightly colored t-shirts--line up for roll call at Bayside Marketplace's marina. After sounding off to their names, the kids board a double-level tour boat for a meandering ride along the Miami River, the 5.5-mile long waterway that runs literally through the heart of Miami. The tour, arranged by the Miami River Commission--a 16-member group formed in 1998 by the state legislature to serve as the river's watchdog--is meant to instill in these children the importance of the waterway and its role in Miami's history.

As the boat churns out of Bayside's harbor and toward the mouth of the river--where the ruddy water spills into turquoise Biscayne Bay--it's hard not to feel that this should be a required activity for any resident of Miami, not just schoolchildren. It's like seeing the city from an entirely new perspective, even as the lumbering vessel slides past familiar landmarks. First there is Brickell Key, with its cluster of condos and offices. Then comes the Miami Circle, the ancient native burial ground that was saved from development a couple of years ago and is now set (pending a bill in the legislature) to become a part of Biscayne National Park. The jaws of the Brickell Avenue bridge open to allow the vessel through, the financial district's glass towers glittering on the left, downtown's central business district looming on the right.

Then comes the disconnect: Wherever you look, there are overgrown empty lots that dot the south and north banks of the narrow channel. You cannot help but wonder: how have developers ignored such opportunities?

The reality is that, regardless of past apathy, developers are no longer ignoring the river. They have been snapping up parcels of land that are among the last remaining pieces of waterfront real estate in South Florida. From One Miami--the Related Group's massive undertaking at the mouth of the river--to the new One River View Square office building next to the Miami Avenue bridge, the waterway is undergoing a dramatic transformation that has been decades in the making. A virtual flurry of condominium and office projects are either underway or in planning stages, with a crop of new restaurants sprouting up on the river's edge. Tying everything together will be a $24 million public "riverwalk," planned to run the entire length of the waterway, paid for in part by developers and in part by public and donated funds.

At the forefront of the river's rejuvenation is Lissette Calderon, a young developer who's building two residential projects on the south bank of the river. Calderon saw opportunity in the river long before the current spate of interest took hold. Her flagship project, the 199-unit Neo Lofts, has just topped off at its river site west of 1-95 after more than two years in the pipeline; four blocks closer to Biscayne Bay, the 443-unit Neo Vertika is set to rise on al 2.2-acre waterfront site next door to Big Fish restaurant in the Brickell Village area. In a nod to the new interest in the river, Calderon says Neo Lofts is just about sold out, "save for a few remaining developer units." Neo Vertika, which launched its sales effort about three months ago, is already more than 85 percent pre-sold. Together, her developments represent an investment of more than $100 million into the riverfront.

"We felt this was one of the last frontiers of waterfront development and we really wanted to capitalize on that," says Calderon, who cut her teeth working for Related's Jorge Perez before branching out on her own to build Neo Lofts. "When you look at other cosmopolitan cities like Chicago, for example, that really take advantage of their river, and then you see Miami, which underutilizes it, you think to yourself, 'Wow, we really need to start doing something here.'"

Neo Vertika will also do its part to help create a neighborhood urban fabric, with 24,000 square feet of retail space in the development's ground floor. While none of the space has yet been leased, Calderon says there's been significant interest from potential tenants, ranging from restaurants to retail stores to coffee houses. "We're going to make sure that when we put retail out there, it will make people who don't necessarily live there want to come and hang out," Calderon says. "We not only build for our residents but also for the residents in the neighborhood." Because Calderon got in on the wave of development early, she was able to offer units in her projects at affordable rates; prices at both Neo Lofts and Neo Vertika start below $200,000. She says the pricing has attracted true urbanites to the area, young trendsetters who see value in the still-underdeveloped riverfront.

"In our two projects I really don't see any examples of gentrification," Calderon says. "What we'd like to do is just bring new life to the area, and in the case of Neo Lofts we actually cleaned up an entire city block that was just a bunch of old warehouses when we bought the site." What she has also done, incidentally, is help drive up property values in the area; she says the Neo Vertika site cost her more than four times than the $1.66 million she paid for the land where Neo Lofts sits.