The oldest settled ground in the city
Along with Coconut Grove, Downtown is the oldest settled area of Miami. Greater Downtown is made up of the Central Business District, Brickell, the Historic District, Government Center, the Arts & Entertainment District and Park West. The Miami Downtown Development Authority defines it as 3.8 square miles east of I-95 between the Rickenbacker Causeway and the Julia Tuttle Causeway.
The Central Business District is bounded by NE Sixth Street to the north, Biscayne Bay to the east and the Miami River to the west and south. Brickell Avenue and Biscayne Boulevard are the main north-south roads and Flagler Street the main east-west one. As the county seat, Downtown holds the central offices of Miami-Dade County government.
The historic districts
The Downtown Miami Historic District was designated on December 6, 2005, and contains 60 historic buildings, a large share of them from the Florida land boom of the 1920s. The City of Miami lists its styles as Masonry Vernacular, Commercial, Mediterranean Revival, Art Moderne and Neoclassical Revival, and describes the Lummus Park Historic District as one of the last remaining residential neighborhoods in downtown.
The Freedom Tower, at 600 Biscayne Boulevard on Miami Dade College’s Wolfson Campus, was built in 1925 for The Miami News and designated a National Historic Landmark on October 6, 2008. Flagler Street has been the main shopping street since the 19th century, and the Miami Jewelry District covers four blocks between North Miami Avenue, NE Second Avenue, East Flagler Street and NE Second Street.
The bayfront
Bayfront Park is 32 acres on Biscayne Bay, redesigned from 1980 by Isamu Noguchi. Bayside Marketplace, an outdoor mall built in 1987, and the Kaseya Center, home of the Miami Heat, border it to the north. Maurice A. Ferré Park, formerly Museum Park, covers 30 acres and is home to the Pérez Art Museum Miami, designed by Herzog & de Meuron, and the Phillip and Patricia Frost Museum of Science. The Adrienne Arsht Center was built partly on the site of a former Sears store, a 1929 Art Deco building.
Rail, and the newest district
Metrorail stops at Historic Overtown/Lyric Theatre, Government Center and Brickell. The free, automated Metromover runs three loops, Downtown, Omni and Brickell, with 22 stations, and MiamiCentral station carries Brightline intercity trains and Tri-Rail commuter service. Miami Worldcenter, in Park West just north of the Central Business District, spans ten blocks and more than 27 acres.
Worth weighing before you buy
- For a condominium sold before completion, the deposit terms: Florida requires payments up to 10 percent of the price to be held in escrow, and money above that may fund construction only if the contract says so in a boldfaced legend on its first page.
- Whether the building is in the Downtown Miami or Lummus Park historic district, both listed by the City of Miami, before planning exterior work.
- Which transit is near: three Metrorail stations, 22 free Metromover stations on three loops, and MiamiCentral for Brightline and Tri-Rail.
