A Look at Margaret Pace Park in the Arts District of Miami
February 23, 2009 by Lucas Lechuga
I had some time to kill in between showing appointments Sunday afternoon so I decided to take a walk around Margaret Pace Park. It was a warm afternoon and the park was bustling with activity. For those of you who don't know, Margaret Pace Park is located in Edgewater Miami along North Bayshore Drive from NE 17 Street to NE 20 Street.
A few volleyball games, tennis matches and a pick-up game of basketball took place while I was there. People were also out walking their dogs or jogging around the path that surrounds the park. I noticed several parents having fun with their young children at the playground as well.
1800 Club, Quantum on the Bay, Cite on the Bay and Paramount Bay are a few condo developments across the street from Margaret Pace Park. (Below, from left to right)
Here's an aerial view of Margaret Pace Park that I took a few years ago from one of the condo buildings nearby:
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Not very well kept….but it’s ghetto-tastic!
You guys knew this would make me crawl out of the wood works!
Lucas, Thanks for making my day. Such a nice feeling to be reminded of my fav home/neighborhood especially while I am away from America for so long. Nice pics. There is one shot from the Venetian causeway toll plaza framed with Venetia to the left and Paramount Bay to the right in the frame. That is an astounding pic of the entire Pace Park area. Try and capture it when you can (or I can send it to you if you want).
I am enjoying the last couple of days of my vacation. Back in NYC on Friday.
But no need for panic, there won’t be any back and forth with RT when I get back, I promise.
Are there a lot of homeless in the park?
Oh wait… I am talking about Miami… Never mind I already know the answer.
Lucas,
Thank You for the fine pictures.
This is absolutely the best place to live in Miami.
Much has changed since I proposed to now ex wife in that Park in the last 10 years. As a former owner at 21 Biscayne I can remember a day when Crack was dealt openly there, the homeless bathed in the bay, and then came Something about Mary…The best thing that could have happened, yet why oh why so many condos and now another one-Paramount Bay that corridor is going to be very crouded and too bad as those old houses were truly a piece of old florida Architecture from a time we all forgot, and now will never remember-so thanks for pictures but what about some pics from when it wasnt this nice-Before someone a developer and we wont mention names put up the moolah to enhance the area so that they could deem it liveable…
This year when I went to the boat show and parked in front of this park, I made a point of carefully watching where was I stepping.
This is because a few years ago when I walked across the park to look at the water, the whole place stank of dog excrement and I may have stepped on some.
Never gone back, and not much interested either.
Nice to see street level photos. The rest of this area is going to be vacant lots for another twenty years. Drive a few blocks west. Don’t be fooled by one park that is used as a dog toilet by condo owners.
Off topic but here goes… what does anybody know about the closing rate for the Dezer developed Trump Towers? Are numbers even out yet? I know you cover Sunny Isles Lucas, have you gotten any numbers from them? Also, is it just me or does anyone think that the younger Dezer is a doppelganger for Ron Jeremy?
Hi Lucas,
Thank you very much for your pictures. It reminded me also about the place and what attracted me there from the very beginning when I discovered it which was 4 years ago.
there are a lot of young professionals there and it is full of energy. IT is also 2 blocks from PAC which is great.
Pace Park does indeed add a positive dimension for those living in 1800, Quantum, Cite & Paramount. Much more appealing than the location of developments like Platinum Onyx, & Star Lofts on those empty streets which dead-end at the bay.
But in the bigger picture of Miami city planning and zoning policy, this is a tiny sliver of public bayfront land that doesn’t even begin to address the long term needs for this type of space when the downtown & mid-town population finally catches up and fills all the existing development in 7 – 10 years.
If city leaders had been truly visionary in the late 60’s and early 70’s, there would have been a greenbelt (similar in width to Pace) set aside straight down the bayfront starting at the Julia Tutwiler causeway and ending just before the Rickenbacker. Miami would then possess a truly world-class public waterfront that might have prompted more sustained and higher quality development across the board for the past several decades and led to a more vital urban core that was “real” and appealed to a permanent middle and upper class population…not one just based on an empty real estate boom fueled by speculation, flippers, and seasonal residents.
At this point such a greenbelt would be virtually impossible without the use of costly and environmentally insensitive land reclamation (such as in Hong Kong) to fill the gaps. Just another example of how despite having so much going for it, Miami just doesn’t seem to have the right civic leadership to create the world-class city so many of us desire there…including, most importantly, the arena of job creation.
New Yorker hits nail firmly on head. Miami’s leadership is incompetent. Hell its drycleaners are incompetent.
That said, there has been much structural improvement in recent years — regardless of where the credit belongs. This can hardly be denied. A little positivism is okay.
Moretroops – you’re right, there are more positives recently than before and at least issues like upgraded public transportion, zoning, and LEED building codes are being discussed more seriously at the city level.
No sense in crying over spilled milk since we can’t go back and change history regarding things like a continuous public waterfront and more responsible zoning that might have buffered this crash, but I really do have a deep affection for Miami and it’s sometimes painful to see all the greed and corruption in the face of “what might have been”. So when I see things like this postage stamp of a public space it gives me an immediate emotional response…but we all gotta focus on making the future of the city better.
Disclosure: I am a New Yorker, but own a place on Brickell Key for about 10 years now.
Thanks Lucas
Urban living at its best. This is a model for what every city person desires. Great water views from your front porch balcony and only an elevator ride away for soccer games,tennis games,volleyball,childrens playground,basketball games and a place for your dog to exercise. This place is bustling with energy. One of my criticisms of Brickell is that there isnt one park in or near Brickell that is within walking distance of your condo or office. Except for that tiny tiny one next to Icon. Also Brickell condos like Plaza,500 Brickell,Bricell On River,Icon,1060 Brickell, Infinity, – they are not really water view apartments like the condos in front of Pace Park. The whole idea of city condo occupants is to rarely have a need to use your car. Imagine walking to work or Metro-mover to work and walking everwhere else – recreation-groceries-church-restaurants or Deli’s-book store-Walgreens-dentist-hair salon-MiamiHeat game or a concert -broadway shows-opera-ballet-symphony-art and science museums. Or just a ten minute taxi ride to South Beach if that is your thing. Pace Park has so many active people out in this park that the drug dealing and homeless issues mentioned in previous posts have moved on and out. Great positive post for a change.
Looks like a nice park from the pictures. Having nice open spaces is a plus which is why I like Haulover park and marina adjacent to Sunny Isles Beach….it is huge with kite flying, marina, jogging paths and is safe, esp. since the naturist on the north beach can’t had a weapon! LOL
I have been ready this Blog for some time and I’ve come to the conclusion that The Ace aka The Smart Money is really Peter Schiff incognito.
When you eliminate the impossible all that remains no matter how improbable has to be the truth.
And before the “spell checkers” crucify me I meant to say…
I have been reading this Blog…….
I like Pace Park a lot. I’m renting in a waterfront place here now, and was thinking about buying here, but I don’t like 1800 Club or Quantum enough to want to buy in either building. The views are great and its really nice living across from the park (I play basketball or volleyball pretty often, or even just take a walk with the girlfriend along the water), but all the units in 1800 or Q are pretty cookie-cutter, small, and overpriced for what you get. I’d stay in this area if there were decent units in either building, but I couldn’t find any that even made it onto my ‘maybe’ list.
Kramer said it best.
I am a NY transplant and I’ve lived in Miami since last May. I love the liveliness of all of the different areas of the city, the culture, the weather ! The one thing I miss most about NYC is the ability to use my car ONLY to visit my friends and family in NJ. It drives me insane that I have to drive everywhere! Then I have to drive to the beach and pay $20 to park.
I live in what I refer to as the “midtown compound” and I can walk to a few stores and five guys burgers and fries…so I consider myself one of the lucky ones.
NJHG/ YOU LIKE IT BECAUSE YOUR NEW MOST PEOPLE BURN OUT ON MIAMI AFTER 2 YEARS
LIVLINESS ??
MONDAY -FRIDAY SOUTH BEACH IS A GHOST TOWN, TRY LIBERTY CITY
OVERTOWN OR EVEN N MIAMI THATS NICE
GO TO CORAL GABLES AND SEE THE LIGHT
I am hoping someone with more knowledge than me on this topic will comment on this. (particularly you, Renter Tom.)
I sense the gub’ment is going down a path that will lead us to inflation the likes of which we’ve not seen since the Jimmy Carter abortion of a presidency. would this not be beneficial to homeowners that are underwater but have a fixed-rate mortgage? (though to the detriment of the more disciplined members of our society who’ve been saving money during the recent madness.) is it possible to inflate our currency out of this debt mess?
secondly, what hedges exist against inflation? gold?
probably too cynical,
If you have read previous posts on this blog you may have noticed that I have had that discussion with renter tom, I believe that we will have hyper inflation in the coming years. when inflation spikes up its def. beneficial to have a long term fixed rate mortgage because in essence you would be paying nothing due to the high inflation. a 6% rate now will look free 5 years from now, as far as hedging goes you have many options and gold is one of them.
DJ – I’ve been around Pace Park and agree with other posters that it is nice to have a park with all the activities that Pace Park has. I’ve also wondered whether crowding was ever a problem given all the new condos in the immediate area.
What has been your experience with crowds at Pace Park? Also, I’m curious which building you are in if its not 1800 Club or Quantum?
No hyperinflation. Just inflation. Inflation in commodities without wages going up similar to Argentina. Government will take action to prevent hyperinflation. Hyperinflation is never overnight, and can ALWAYS be stopped if the government takes the right actions. IMF issued a paper on this. This means home prices won’t increase like they did in the 1970s. It just means that people get poorer and can afford less nice things. Home prices won’t be heading back up, if anything, this kind of inflation pushes home prices down further.
Also, if inflation is coming in 36 months an you buy now, you will lose 50% of your money in real terms. Also, if homes in Miami can’t be purchased on margin and require 40% down payment, why not buy a much better inflation hedge like gold?
New Yorker,
I lamented before about the lack of any waterfront parks in Miami all the way from Keystone to Rickenbacker. Any other city would have set aside parks like Pace for the sake of the public. Even Pace is not sop much because of the city but due to the Margaret Pace Trust. Yes it is a shame.
All said and done just because there is no other such waterfront park ringed by buildings, the buildings surrounding pace park become that much more attractive to live.
How is Pace Park at night? Is it safe?
Gold is not being bought on hyper-inflation worries.
It’s being bought as an insurance policy against a total collapse of all financial systems.
We are in a full-fledged deflation.
It’s so obvious if you stop listening to CNBC and look.
What does it tell you that AMEX is giving $300 to get it’s card back?
The era of easy credit is over.
There is less cash every day, the velocity of money has come to a crawl. This is the deflation.
The 1 Trillion stimulus will do nothing to stop this freight train.
Don’t know where RT gets his rep, I’d ask the ACE or other “smart money” members.
I bought gold in 2000, 20007 and 2008.
I sold all my Real Estate in the Gables in 04-05.
TIPS are a good buy.
If you do buy gold, there are carrying costs, the safety deposit box is free the first year, the conversion of cash to gold to cash carries a 15% overhead at times.
If you buy GLD then you miss the point on why you buy gold in the first place.
Muir, member of the “smart money.”
Muir, perhaps you should have a look at itulip to balance out your views:
http://www.itulip.com/forums/showthread.php?p=77759#post77759
Pace Park makes the around it. Living in the apartment buildings around Pace Park is a huge benefit because of the waterfront views, the Metromover stations, its proximity to Downtown and Pace Park.
That said, there is a lot to do in Miami and if you know where to live there are places in Miami that you can live without a car (Downtown, Brickell and South Beach). And you never have to “get bored” of them, there’s always something to do there. To say that South Beach is dead from Monday to Friday is a blatant lie, because South Beach is always bustling with people walking around and doing their everyday things.
BMW M3,
I have ITulip bookmarked.
A lot of people have lost a lot of money in recent years following their advice and others.
U.S. was supposed to collapse and EU and gold would triumph, as well as BRIC.
Want me to dig up posters here less than 6 months ago mentioning BRIC?
The smart money is on deflation for the time being. When there is hyper-inflation, the smart money will change course.
—
It’s easy to make money, here take a look at this graph and tell me what you would do.
http://img5.imageshack.us/img5/9725/infadjdji.jpg
—
Muir, member of the “smart money.”
you have to have a gold position plain and simple buy gxd aem anyone of them
miami is realy starting to remind me of ny without the good food, or employment…
the west coast of florida is starting to look realy good to me i think i will buy aa house for a 100 grand…..
getting arrested by the beach for a tailight may have been my final straw
ocean5 (post #23)
I live in Bay Parc Plaza….a somewhat decent rental building located inbetween Opera and 1800 club. I moved here in May, 2006 right after I finished law school, so I wanted something affordable but still nice with decent views. When I moved in, Opera, 1800 and Quantum were all still under construction, so since moving to the area I’ve seen a huge influx of new residents. Even with all the new people living here, it looks to me like a lot of the people (especially playing sports) in the park probably come from elsewhere, so its never too crowded.
Now that I’m in a position to buy a condo, and since I really like the area, I looked at a lot of units in 1800 and Quantum, even one or two in the Grand and Cite (I wouldn’t touch Opera with a 10 foot pole), but I didn’t see anything worth plunking a bunch of money down on.
Probably too Cynical – Inflation? It seems to be a mid to longer term concern and inflating our way out of a nominal priced debt obligation would seem to be one solution except when you don’t finance such debt obligations with only long term notes. That is, the short to mid term notes will need to be refinanced going forward and if there is high inflation the lenders will demand a high interest rate! Defeats the deflate your way out debt scheme. Moreover, there is a lot of pain when inflation reaches higher levels esp above 10%. I have been kicking around opening up foreign account in Canada….they look like they are positioned to weather this storm better then the rest right now…it looks to be the most free market capitalist nation now as socialism is going to harm the US….who would have thought the US would look like worst socialism than Canada! As I had previously posted, we are in a structural recession where the supply investment is undergoing long, deep and painful reallocation (get it over with instead of anchoring to an old model like the fed govt meddling keeps doing….let the market adjust but not over over over correct) and we have to burn off the slack in almost everything….housing, strip malls, retail, apparel, employment, autos….. The fed govt can not reinflate the credit bubble and its borrowing would have to replace the consumer borrowing EVERY year….good luck with that!
The way I see it, there are three main components: (1) structural supply investment change caused by a shift in the demand curve (not along it) which is the most painful and long – maybe a decade, (2) slack to be burned off due to the shift in the demand curve which can take place in a 1-3 years, (3) credit stabilization and availability hopefully a 12-24 month concern. This accumulated over decades of incremental credit expansion until it got the most absurd in the housing market due to deceptive securitization so the housing credit market popped first and exposed the other absurdities in the credit markets. Basically everyone made money off the fees related to a credit transaction and didn’t worry about the repayment obligation. If people simply paid their credit obligations as best they can – instead of whining about it, looking for govt bailouts, gaming/scamming the system – we’d be better off and most would be avoided. Get a job cleaning restrooms or whatever instead of sitting back on house wishing prices, delusional salary desires (you’re not that special), and baby daddy Barack. Every govt program causes greater problems as people on the margin continue to bailout on their credit obligations….why should I pay when other aren’t? With each new govt “idea” more people are at the margin and as the margin moves down we could get into a spiral that would be a depression. This is serious stuff and we should be praising the prudent and allow charity to be local. The sheeple need to go back and get their GED instead of being led to slaughter.
With respect to gold….the gold promoters are like Realtors® during the housing bubble. They create urgency through fear and emotion.
By the way, I was toying with make an all cash offer on a short sale for $500K but given what has been coming out of DC, it looks like I will stay on the sidelines since the rental continues to be a fantastic deal…..oh well.
Pace park needs to give the security people a paint brush and a sprinkler–let security go undercover. They need an electronic fence to keep the dogs out so kids and people could enjoy grass picnics. Dogs are great but should people living in apartments have them.
Muir,
Did you buy gold in coins/bullion or futures contracts?
BMW M3, when you say govt. will take action to stop hyperinflation do you mean by printing money 24hrs. a day?? because thats what they are doing. on top of our HUGE federal deficit (I think around 10 trillion now), the yearly deficit we have, and osama over there printing money likes it going out of style (all of which won’t do anything to spark the economy) I don’t see how we won’t have hyperinflation. In 5 years we’ll see what our dollar of today will be worth. I’m thinking around zero.
Raffi – So far…..so far at least, we have not monetized the federal debt via printing money. But that could happen if people don’t lend the money to the fed govt….unprecedented amount of borrowing is coming and the fed govt would need to do that EVERY year in an ATTEMPT to re-inflate the credit bubble…..they simply don’t have the resources to do that though. Like I have said, the debtor lifestyle is over…
$2 Million Miami Beach Condo, $100K Convertible, not having to pay back the debt and a moratorium on foreclosures…. priceless.
priceless, except on our children, grandchildren, great grandchildren…..
My husband and I love Pace Park as it is one of the few Miami parks where you can actually barbeque. We live on South Beach, get on our bikes and ride across with charcoal, steaks and have a beaut picnic with a lovely water view. There’s also a cricket pitch and we are looking for friends to have a game day. (husband is Australian)
BTW, tired of the Miami haters and whiners who comment. Make the best of this fab city or go elsewhere! If you think living in Miami is so bad, try living in Detroit.
If Miami Beach had it’s own fragrance it would smell like Astroglide, narcissism and desperation.
If it was possible to bottle that scent, I’d buy it.
Well, alls I know is that prices in Miami are plummetting. Raffi, I know you purchased, so of course you want home prices to skyrocket. It ain’t gonna happen. Miami is down 2.7% in December.
I smell fear and I’m loving it! I just love reading this blog and hearing the likes of RT and Un-Releated talk about socialism, Obamunism, hyper-inflation, gold and moving their money to foreign accounts. I bet you these boys stay up all night worring about those things. I get off seeing their counterparts on CNBC yelling and screaming about socialism. Did you guys see Santelli rant at the pit the other day? Man seeing these boys shitting in their panties is better than sex, well almost. I see Panic setting in and I am busy buying everything in sight(No gold) I’m looking for more real estate, I’m buying oil, Industrials and even financials hell I’m buying everything these cowards are selling. Guys go ahead and load up on gold because when the hedge funds decide it’s no longer cool to be in gold and decide to dump gold you will come running to buy from me.
Gold will go up and maybe hit $1400/Oz but when was the last time anyone ran out to the store for gold because they needed it to make something? There is no real use for gold execpt for jewlery. All this gold is being stored in wharehouses by hedgefunds and everyfu*kingday companies are pulling more of it out of the ground.
Remember how the hedge funds manipulated oil last summer when we had the same talking heads ton CNBC trying to convince everyone about peak oil without a shortage anywhere? Sounds familiar? Sounds like Gold to me!
When will these sheep learn!
The US is still the greatest country on earth
makes me think,
“I see Panic setting in and I am busy buying everything in sight(No gold) I’m looking for more real estate, I’m buying oil, Industrials and even financials hell I’m buying everything these cowards are selling.”
I’m throwing a yellow flag and calling a Bullshit penalty on you. 15 yards. Loss of down.
Renter tom suggests that govt programs and govt meddling are ineffective and it is better to let the market adjust itself and let it burn out on its own. That was President Hoovers approach after the stock market crashed in 1929 and proved to be ineffective over the next 3 years (30-31-32) as the Dow collapsed from its 1929 high of 381 Dow to its bottom in 1932 of Dow 45 and unemployment peaked at 25%. Three years of letting it burn out with no goverment intervention. Only after President Roosevelt was inaugurated in March of 1933 and “meddled” with govt programs did the stock market triple to approx 150 Dow over the next couple of years and unemployment decline (albeit modestly).
But i do agree that gold is overpriced here and over-hyped. Expect a decline over next 3-6 months to probably $600-$650. Gold tends to go down in deflationary times.
It also appears that you may not be as smart as you keep reminding us of all the time – by paying rent and calling it a “fantastic deal”, when somone in this blog mentioned a couple of weeks ago that they knew of friends who were still living in their homes and not paying their mortgage/taxes/windstorm for more than one year while waiting for the bank to foreclose and banking that money instead while your shelling out how much each month for rent? In light of these anecdotal stories you dont appear anywhere near as smart as them. (Last paragraph Sarcasm Font)
makesmethink ends his rant with: “When will these sheep learn! ”
Maybe us “sheep” learned the downside the last time out during the toxic Carter years. No mortgage and no plastic here (but still get the “invites”. Yeah, I got burned for a net of less than $25K in the “condo bubble” and learned my one and only “pre-construction lesson”. The thievery behind it only surprises me to the extent that lenders were actually forking over billions of dollars to these sky-changing developers.
No, I don’t worry about it at night…….my “old age” money has been in oil and oilfield services shares for 20 years. Stocks may be down lately but look at a 20-yaer chart. Drill Baby, Drill!!!
Yes, the USA is, and always will be the greatest country on Earth. That is why Obamunism will come and go like a bad case of diarrhea! I tuned him out before he got elected and am confident I am not alone in this regard!
Ok, you call a yellow flag. good for you!
What part of that would be BS?
Buying houses that can pay for itself in 4 or 5 years or buying stocks that are at multiyear/multidecade lows. I consider many of these stocks as Options with no expiry or LEAPS (if the government eventually takes over or they go bankrupt). Buy a couple hundred shares lock them away in a safe and hopefully in 10 or 20 years one or two of them are doing well. At these prices you can still come out way ahead of the game if you go 1 in five. The beauty is you can yourself a well diversified million dollar portifolio of stocks, bonds and real estate with just a few hundred grand and a decade or so of time.
That is my belief, anyway. Others my think that is Bull Shit and the world is coming to an end. Can’t call yourself an investor if you don’t understand risk vs. reward and if you are not willing to loose some money.
Un-Related,
I can’t argue with you. You and RT are like religious fanatics on this blog, you are right about everything, you are going to heaven and the whole world is going to hell because We don’t subscribe to your fanaticisim.
makes me think,
“What part of that would be BS?”
The part about you spending money like there was no tomorrow buying up all asset classes (except gold) like there was no tomorrow. Name your LLCs and let us verify.
In short, I think you feel the need to talk a big game instead of simply stating your opinion. Nothing wrong with simply stating an opinion MMT, but anyone foolish enough to buy now shows that they have inherited money. Prices will be lower in 6 months and we will have better clarity to boot.