Sunday, January 6, 2008

Miami Beach Real Estate: Upcoming Growth Areas Of The City

The city of Miami Beach has been considered as one of America's most famous resort destination for almost a century. The city is home to famous districts like South Beach, and it's one of the most exciting areas of the overall Miami real estate market.

It was the original "vacation" area and is filled with well-maintained Art Deco hotels and apartment buildings. The city has continued to held on to its eminence as a lovely tourist paradise, and people worldwide have been attracted to its diverse cultures, wide array of employment opportunities, property and housing options, palm-fringed white-sand beaches and fashionable restaurants, cafes bars and flamboyant nightlife.

The South Beach District Never Fails To Lose Its Luster

South Beach, or SoBe, is the city's most well-known destination. The district, with its pastel-hued buildings, hip nightclubs, trendy shops, restaurants and cafes, which attract famous business and showbiz personalities, as well as socialites and their associates all year round. The Art Deco District and Haulover Beach, which is home to the city's only legal haven for nudists, are other attractions. The Beach can be quite affordable, depending on where wish to stay, eat and play.

Despite The Housing Crunch, The Miami Area Is Still A Vibrant Property Destination

Considered the financial and transport gateway between the United States and Latin America, Miami, along with its closest neighbor Miami Beach, has long attracted a large amount of international investment. In recent years the flow of overseas money has increased, as investors awash with cash from the economic growth in Latin America, seek to capitalize on the city’s soaring property values.

South Florida is a popular destination for Europeans, as portfolio managers and institutional investors in many countries tend to view the Miami beachfront property market as a bargain even at current prices, particularly if compared to skyrocketing property values in Europe, and when purchased with dollars that are weak relative to the Euro and other major currencies.

North Beach Is A Upcoming Growth Zone In Miami Beach

After decades of staying in the sidelines, the North Beach district has lately been rediscovered by investors, tourists and the media,and more than $600 million in public- and private-sector projects are now underway.

Situated between the city's 63rd Street to the south and the Town of Surfside to the north, and stretching from the Atlantic to Biscayne Bay, North Beach has about 30,000 residents who can walk or bicycle to the beach and community parks, as well as nearby hotels and shops.

Among its other claims to fame is Miami Beach's only stretch of oceanfront street outside of Ocean Drive – Ocean Terrace between 73 Street and 75 Street. "A lot of developers within the past few years have recognized the potential of the waterfront areas and attractive neighborhoods in the North Beach area," adds a spokesman of a local area developer.

The city was originally a mangrove swamp, until a wooden bridge was constructed from the mainland in 1913. However, development was slow until the Florida land boom of the 1920s. The hotel and vacation industry began to decline in the 1970s. By the mid-1980s, huge numbers of Cuban refugees from the Mariel boatlift made their way into the area, seeking its affordable housing.

A rise in less-expensive development along the ocean road followed and led to the influx of a younger population and an exodus of many wealthier retirees to other resort cities in Florida. By the 1990s,the Beach had reemerged as a popular tourist destination. More recently there has been renewed interest in "Miami Modernism," the architectural style that characterizes the city's 1950s hotels.

Vanessa Arellano Doctor

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