By Coral Gables Gazette staff
Less than a week after the city acknowledged that Coral Gables had decided to shelve its pursuit of a new business improvement district (BID) in the form of a Downtown Coral Gables Partnership, the city’s Economic Development Board got an early version of a post-mortem on the undertaking, with Economic Development Director Belkys Perez delivering the eulogy to board members.
“There really has not been the amount of support from the property owners that is needed in order to move forward with this project,” Perez said. “Because of that, we’ve put this on hold right now.”
She said the consultant hired to study the proposal, Progressive Urban Management Associates (PUMA), will still complete its business plan and recommendations should the city revisit the concept in the future.
“If and when there is support, we now have a plan moving forward on how to proceed,” Perez said. “But in the meantime, we’re just tying up loose ends and we’re just closing that project off.”
“We needed 12 to 15 champions”
The update prompted board members to press Perez on why the effort failed after months of public outreach and whether there was a measurable level of support among downtown property owners.
Perez said the city never conducted a formal vote but instead relied on extensive one-on-one conversations and informal tallies gathered during the consultant’s outreach campaign.
“We needed at least 12 to 15 champions and property owners to push this forward,” she said, explaining that the proposed assessment district depended on property owners convincing one another of its value. “It’s really a property owner-led initiative.”
Former BID nonprofit still has $300,000 to $400,000 to spend
Board members also sought to clear up lingering confusion surrounding Coral Gables’ previous Business Improvement District, after one member noted that references to the BID were still appearing online.
Perez explained that while the former BID no longer exists as a city-sanctioned assessment district, it became a nonprofit organization that remains active solely to spend the remaining funds collected before the district expired. Under a mediation agreement with the city, those funds must be used on city-approved initiatives such as business promotion and downtown improvements before the nonprofit ultimately winds down.
She estimated the organization still holds roughly $300,000 to $400,000, while continuing to submit audits, financial statements and meeting minutes to the city.
When another board member asked what businesses stood to lose now that the Downtown Coral Gables Partnership had been shelved, Perez clarified the point.
“Nothing is going to go away,” she said,. “There is nothing in place right now.”
A separate downtown assessment remains in play
Perez then shifted to another downtown initiative Mayor Vince Lago has championed: creating a landscape and maintenance assessment district covering the central business district.
Unlike the proposed Downtown Coral Gables Partnership, which would have funded marketing, events and business recruitment, the new assessment would focus on physical improvements. Property owners would pay into a district responsible for coordinated landscaping, pressure cleaning sidewalks, maintaining streetscapes, addressing graffiti and creating a more uniform appearance throughout downtown.
“The point to that is because we want property values to continue to go up,” Perez said, describing it as a way to keep the downtown competitive with neighboring commercial districts.
City trying to get rid of banks on Miracle Mile
The board also received an update from Planning Director Jennifer Garcia on proposed zoning changes designed to preserve Miracle Mile’s retail character by limiting how financial institutions occupy storefronts.
Rather than prohibiting banks outright, Garcia said the ordinance would remove financial institutions from the zoning definition of retail uses on Miracle Mile and Giralda Avenue. Under the proposal, at least 90% of a building’s street frontage would have to remain dedicated to active uses such as retail, restaurants, art galleries or personal services, while banks could still operate if they maintained active storefronts similar to concepts like Capital One Cafés. Existing banks would be grandfathered in.
Garcia said the goal is to maintain pedestrian activity and encourage small businesses along Coral Gables’ signature shopping street.
“Miracle Mile in particular has always been a retail street,” she said. “We want to keep it like that.”
New portal for business tax licenses
Earlier in the meeting, Perez also highlighted the city’s new online business tax license portal, replacing a paper-based system that required staff to manually enter handwritten applications.
The new portal will integrate directly with the city’s customer management system, allowing staff to better track businesses and assist them through the permitting process while improving one of the city’s most important revenue streams.
This Post Has 4 Comments
Miracle Mile a Retail Street! Not in this reality. Closed restaurants and stores line both sides of it. Exorbitant rents chase them out. Make attractive offers so that 12-15 nongreedy champions are encouraged to lower rental prices
and businesses will open. You say there is a $400,000 budget. It starts with one “Champion”!
we have boarded store fronts on every block in MM. so, let’s fix it by a) imposing new taxes, oh sorry, assessmenst; and b) telling financial institutions they’re not welcome. where did we find these idiots? OMG. we may really be doomed.
The discussion about a BID misses a larger question: what kind of downtown is Coral Gables trying to create?
For years, the city has pursued a more “world-class” vision built around luxury development, higher property values, and attracting wealthier residents. Those goals are not necessarily wrong, but they come with tradeoffs.
Miracle Mile became a destination because it was welcoming, not because it was exclusive. It attracted Coral Gables residents, people from across Miami-Dade, and tourists who wanted to walk, browse shops, discover local businesses, and spend time there. It was more than a place to have dinner.
Today, rising rents and changing priorities have made it harder for many independent retailers and small businesses to survive. More restaurants and higher-end services may increase the perception of an upscale district, but they do not necessarily replace the variety and sense of discovery that made Miracle Mile special.
A BID or new assessment may help with maintenance, marketing, or streetscape improvements, but it cannot solve the larger issue if the downtown environment itself has become too expensive for the types of businesses that once made it attractive. A clean sidewalk does not replace a missing store.
Urban planning should include the voices of the people who use these spaces every day. A truly world-class downtown is not just one with rising property values and luxury tenants. It is one that remains vibrant, accessible, and appealing to residents, Miamians, and visitors alike.
Not to worry, residents, the 60 to 80 Million Dollar Mobility Hub will save Miracle Mile!!! We don’t know exactly how, but “if we build it, they will come.” Yes, Field of Dreams was a movie, not reality.
“Mr. Miracle Mile”, Albert Friedman, must be spinning in his grave. For those who don’t recognize his name, he’s the person who put Miracle Mile on the map as a nationwide shopping destination.