The smell of weed was unmistakable. Crowds gathered. Bars played dance music. At 6pm on a recent Saturday, the parties on Ocean Drive in Miami Beach were just getting started. The good times would continue into the wee hours as the booze flowed on the famous promenade – alongside the city’s most popular Art Deco architecture.
“Ocean Drive is the postcard of our city,” Miami Beach Mayor Dan Gelber told the Commercial Observer. “But there was no code of conduct.”
The beach promenade is one of the most famous streets in the world. But over the past decade, it’s drawn the ire of locals for unruly parties, rowdy clubs, and spring-break debauchery.
Gelber has launched a crusade to revamp the street’s wild image – igniting a bitter battle between local business owners, politicians, developers and residents. At the heart of the controversy is a proposal that would change the cut-off time for businesses serving alcohol from 5am to 2am. Critics fear the rule will result in lost revenue for local businesses, and they say it proves the city caters to the affluent and property developers hoping to replace the unseemly pubs with high-end shops and condominiums.
The fight comes at a crucial time for the booming Miami region. During the pandemic, the Florida hub attracted some of the world’s wealthiest tycoons and big names in finance and technology. As an emblematic symbol of Miami Beach, the future of Ocean Drive will play a crucial role in whether the area remains a sun-kissed party destination or evolves into a serious business and cultural capital.
It is the latest chapter in Ocean Drive’s tumultuous history. Founded in 1915, Miami Beach was a vacation destination for the wealthy, with Mediterranean-style buildings serving as an elegant backdrop. But in 1926 a hurricane destroyed much of the island. During the reconstruction, Ocean Drive emerged with its art deco jewels. Low-rise hotels like the Royal Cleveland Hotel graced the shoreline.
However, the road soon fell out of favor. After World War II, tourists preferred larger hotels like the famous Fontainebleau further north in Miami Beach. These post-war resorts offered more amenities like large pool decks, explained Daniel Ciraldo, chairman of the Miami Design Preservation League. Retirees took ownership of Ocean Drive. The structures fell into disrepair. And the road fell into its first descent.
In the 1980s, the late Tony Goldman, who revived New York’s SoHo, began buying real estate on Ocean Drive. Trendy bars and restaurants opened. World-renowned photographer Bruce Weber shot a daring ad for Calvin Klein on the Breakwater Hotel rooftop. Designer Gianni Versace has made Ocean Drive his home. The iconic street got a new shine.
The revival went too far. The sensitive historical sites became mass market attractions. Just as Paris’s Champs-Élysées and the Trevi Fountain area in Rome fell under a flood of tourists, Miami Beach’s Ocean Drive was losing its reputation in the eyes of locals.
In recent years it has become known for all-night parties and cheap bars.
“It’s really like a port in a developing country or a Caribbean country. It doesn’t reflect where we are today,” said Don Peebles, who developed a luxury condo in Miami Beach and lives in the city but hasn’t set foot on the avenue in a decade.
Despite the demise of Ocean Drive, the rest of Miami Beach is still home to some of Florida’s most expensive hotels, condos, and homes. During peak season, hotels farther north of Miami Beach, including The Fontainebleau, The Edition, and Faena, command nightly rates in excess of $1,000. These rates dwarf hotel rates in the entertainment district, which includes Ocean Drive.
The pandemic exacerbated the turbulence. As Miami Beach prospered, Ocean Drive collapsed.
Attracted by Florida’s low taxes and pro-business policies, billionaires began moving to Miami after the first COVID-19 lockdown. Many, including financiers Dan Loeb and Orlando Bravo, chose to settle in Miami Beach along North Bay Road and snag waterfront homes at record prices.
Meanwhile, hotels along Ocean Drive have been forced to slash their rates to stay afloat. Coupled with discounts and the lack of COVID-19 restrictions in Florida, the celebrations escalated. Thousands of college students took to the streets during Spring Break 2021. mayhem ensued. Police struggled to quell the unruly celebrations.
“Some people bring guns. Some people were there to fight. Some people ran away,” said Gelber.
In response, the Miami Beach government declared a state of emergency. It closed two causeways leading into the city and imposed a curfew. In just six weeks, Miami Beach police say they arrested more than 1,000 people, confiscated more than 100 guns and issued more than 1,100 tickets.
Ocean Drive was also the scene of a horrific murder. A few months after the spring break debacle, a 21-year-old tourist was shot dead while dining outside at La Cerveceria de Barrio restaurant. The attacker, who randomly selected the victim, was “high on shrooms, which made him feel empowered,” police said.
The city initiated reforms. In May 2021, Miami Beach commissioners voted to cut the hours that businesses could serve alcohol, shortening by three the last call in the entertainment district, which runs between Fifth and 16th Streets along Collins Avenue and Ocean Drive Hours.
Many business owners protested, including the Clevelander Hotel, which sued.
“The city has declared war on South Beach’s famed entertainment district,” the 90-page lawsuit reads. A month later, a judge overturned the measure. (Clevelander Hotel did not respond to a request for comment.)
Undeterred, Gelber put a citywide 2 a.m. alcohol ban on the ballot during his fall 2021 re-election campaign. The campaign turned into a scuffle between the mayor and business owners.
The Miami Beach Chamber of Commerce released a report claiming that alcohol restrictions could cost Miami Beach businesses up to 4,100 jobs and $227 million in annual revenue, in addition to $14.6 million in lost tax revenue.
But supporters of the mayor’s efforts — including some of the biggest names in real estate, such as Related Group’s Jorge Perez, Starwood Capital’s Barry Sternlicht and Peebles — argued that Miami Beach’s hedonistic image was holding them back. For example, last year Miami Beach lost most of its headline-grabbing office leases to Miami’s CBD, a separate community across Biscayne Bay.
The mayor also made a great effort to support the real estate industry. Unflattering audio has been leaked showing Gelber courting unnamed developers.
“I am willing to do whatever is necessary and to support any idea, even if it is not particularly popular,” says Gelber.
The tone alarmed critics, who feared the law’s true motive was not to remodel the street, but to raise funds and benefit developers. It emerged amid concerns about the Miami area’s affordability. During the pandemic, the area became one of the most expensive regions in the country, rivaling New York and San Francisco. (A public watchdog dropped an ethics complaint against Gelber over the tape, claiming his actions did not meet standards of wrongdoing legally.)
In November 2021, Miami Beach residents sided with the mayor. Not only did they re-elect Yellow, 56 percent voted for the alcohol restriction.
The primary goal for Gelber is to create a diverse neighborhood where people go out in the evenings, but also where they work and live. The alcohol control measure is just the first step in repositioning the county.
“No one is going to want a gallery, condo, or boutique office on top of an all-day bar,” explained Gelber.
The mayor also wants to attract new investments. He has proposed changing the zoning statutes on Collins Avenue, the street behind Ocean Drive, to allow for an additional 25 feet of height. According to his plan, access for cars on Ocean Drive would be restricted, which would turn it into a more walkable boardwalk.
Nevertheless, Gelber’s vision remains in flux. Although the measure was successful with local residents, the vote was a non-binding resolution. Miami Beach commissioners are currently debating the contours of the law and which facilities will be exempt. Despite backing the November 2021 ban, Commissioner Kristen Rosen Gonzalez wants to soften the measure by moving the last call time to 3 or 3:30am instead of 2am. Yellow expects more lawsuits.
Cars returned to Ocean Drive in January after a nearly two-year hiatus meant to encourage outdoor activities amid the pandemic. Some critics had argued that the lack of vehicles on the street encouraged crowding.
According to some locals, a degree of peace has already returned. Eddy Martinez — a luxury real estate and retail broker who lives on a quiet stretch of Ocean Drive south of the entertainment district — avoided the retail-heavy northern portion of the street during the peak of the pandemic. But to his pleasant surprise, the crowd isn’t as loud anymore. He has returned, walks his dog and rides his bike along the boardwalk at night.
While the realtor supports Gelber’s mission to diversify the neighborhood, he doesn’t want the street to lose its edge.
“Some want it to be more vanilla, but you can’t completely erase the entertainment component,” he said. “This is Ocean Drive! You have to have bars, restaurants and lounges.”
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