How do you transform a declining neighbourhood into a destination for global art and retail? Craig Robins, the developer of the Miami Design District, talks about Miami Art Week 2024 and the role of art in enhancing wellbeing and uniting communities. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Craig Robbins is the CEO of development firm Dacra and creator of the Miami Design District and one of the figures responsible for bringing Art Basel to Miami.
As the city hosts Art Week 2024, we caught up with Craig to explore the Miami Design district's origins from a fading furniture showroom hub to a world renowned cultural and commercial hotspot.
So how do you transform a declining neighborhood into a global art and retail destination?
And how do you balance organic growth with ambitious development?
Well, here is Craig with more on how the journey began.
Neighborhoods in general evolve.
The Design district in the 70s was like the epicenter for furniture design showrooms.
And then Miami went through a bit of a crisis in 1980, and areas began to decline.
So by the late 80s, early 90s, the Design District was place that had formerly been a very successful neighborhood for furniture showrooms.
It was probably 50% occupied, and the remaining spaces that were being rented were almost valueless.
So it had kind of been virtually abandoned.
And there was a perception that it wasn't a neighborhood where anything positive could happen.
In the late 90s, I then started to buy property in the neighborhood.
Neighborhoods are like living organisms, and the more you can make them dynamic, add diversity of uses and experiences, the more interesting they are and the more people connect with them.
And so in the Design District, the first thing we did was went against the general industry in the United States.
We told furniture showrooms that instead of being like, in these fortress like malls where you needed a licensed decorator to get in, that design should be on the street.
And there were a lot of people who actually agreed with that vision.
And so in a very short period of time, Design District became successful in that it was occupied in, you know, earning rent.