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The Wynwood Arts & Fashion District is a
rapidly emerging neighborhood located in
the heart of Miami’s east side renaissance.
Wynwood is located north of Downtown
Miami and is bordered by Interstate 95 to
the west, North Miami Avenue to the east,
NW 29th Street to the north and NW 20th
Street to the south. Once one of Miami’s
thriving warehouse districts, thanks to the
former Florida East Coast Railroad, these
structures started becoming vacant in the
1970s as freight transport increasingly
shifted away from rail. During the drug
wars of the early 1980s Wynwood sank into
a tailspin of urban decay and neglect that
lasted into the 2000s. During the building
boom of the early 2000s, Wynwood
emerged as a “Cool Street” among
millennials and creatives, attracting art
galleries and event planners who were
seeking relief from escalating market rents
and found value in re-purposing large
warehouse buildings. Its industrial history
has provided great open spaces and
dramatic exterior canvasses for creativity,
and by 2005, the efforts of a number of
groups resulted in street art and murals
replacing graffiti stains. Miami’s explosive
population growth since 2010 has further
catapulted the area. As many of the
market’s warehouses go through the
adaptive reuse process, their physical
qualities have attracted a variety of
retailers from home accessories to
contemporary apparel.
Today, Wynwood is both an incubator for
creative office users and magnet for hip,
emerging brands that appreciate its edgy
quality; as well as a focal point for
established brands that see Wynwood as
the only place they fit in the greater Miami
market. Fueled by small, functional spaces,
manageable rents and the audience it
attracts, Wynwood has quickly become
Miami’s answer to neighborhoods like
SoHo of the 1980s and the Meatpacking
District. The main retail artery serving
Wynwood is Northwest 2nd Avenue, but
side streets, like NW 25th and NW 26th
Streets have emerged as strong options to
the higher-rent demands of the avenue.
Asking retail rents range from $45 to $80
PSF NNN. With a steady stream of new
investment from established national and
regional developers, this Cool Street has
begun to expand in all directions. Its next
wave of development is underway via
large-scale mixed-use developments,
which will increase the daytime population
and further bolster pedestrian traffic.
26.9%
Millennial Population
$44,350
Average
Household Income
Wynwood:
South Florida’s Arts Mecca