BARBARA BAER CAPITMAN
ART DECO PUT STATE OF FLORIDA
IN VANGUARD OF
HISTORIC PRESERVATION
Our sub-tropical city reigns with world’s
first urban 20th century historic district
By Michael D. Kinerk (MDPL Chairman Emeritus)
and Dennis W. Wilhelm, charter member MDPL
U
nderpinning the acclaim and celebrity of
Miami Beach’s southern tip (aka “South
Beach”) is a National Register historic
district devoted to architecture of the Twentieth
Century — the first such urban district in the
world. We call it the “Art Deco District.” It is a
cityscape comprising some 800 buildings in
the Tropical Art Deco style, and another 200 in
Spanish and Mediterranean Revival.
The effect of historic preservation on the
economy of Miami Beach and the entire state
of Florida is startling: from 1990 to 2010 the
value of all real property in Miami Beach rose
almost tenfold from $2.5 billion to $22 billion.
City officials proclaimed that the renovation of
historic properties and smart zoning — not new
construction — resulted in the rise in value.
In 2010 a comprehensive study of historic
preservation was
completed by Rutgers
University. It covered 23
years of development in
the Art Deco District, and
compared our District
to all historic districts
in Florida. The study
confirmed that for 13 straight years the Art
Deco District has been the number ONE tourist
attraction in Miami-Dade and number TWO in
Florida. The study examined many economic
metrics, including hotel and restaurant revenue,
54
ART DECO WEEKEND
MDPL tour for Andy Warhol in March of 1980.
and jobs. Restaurant and hotel revenue rose
from $900 million in 2002 — when the District
already was well established — to $1.6 billion
in 2008.
A key conclusion of the study “… the
preservation of Miami
Beach has had a
significant regional
impact. [In 2008]
the Art Deco District
[was] visited by nearly
52% of Miami-Dade
County’s 12
million visitors.
“From 1995 to 2009 ... visitors to Miami
Beach spent $15 billion for food, drinks and
lodging, with historic South Beach drawing
nearly 75% of this spending.”