Features – The BIG BUBBLE Miami

Miami’s Most Expensive House is Star Island’s Long Lost Yacht Club

In its earliest glory days, Star Island was the pearl earring of Miami Beach.

That Kind of Controversial New Ross Has Opened on Lincoln Road

The much talked about new Ross Dress for Less has opened on Lincoln Road in South Beach in its dramatic but rather mall-like new building, and here it is. Some people think it’s just the latest symbol of the mall-ification of Lincoln Road, others a great place for inexpensive clothing in the middle of expensive Miami Beach, better than the abandoned frontage that had occupied that site (the long-gone Caribe Theatre) for years, or a cheap tourist magnet. Whatever you think, check out these photos of the new place. Yay or nay? Let us know in the comments.

by Sean McCaughan

Morningside’s Midcentury Jetsons House is Back on the Market

The elevated house in Morningside known by neighbors as the ‘Jetsons House’ because of its retro-futuristic appearance is back on the market, listed for $1.875 million, two years after the house sold for $1.5 million. Located at 5261 NE 5th Avenue, it’s looking good, having been cleaned out and spruced up a little, showing off lots of original details by architect Rufus Nims from its construction in 1949.

by Sean McCaughan

The Privately Owned Public Park at One Ocean is Still Closed to the Public

The privately owned public park at first street and Collins Avenue in South Beach continues to be locked and closed to the public almost a year after an article appeared on the Big Bubble questioning why it was closed. I don’t think it officially has a name, but I call it One Ocean Park.

by Sean McCaughan

Sterling Market Food Hall Planned for Lincoln Road, Anchored by Mr. Bing

The large former Design Within Reach space next to Books & Books, in the rear of Lincoln Road’s historic Sterling Building, is slated to become a food hall called the Sterling Market. One of the future tenants, Mr. Bing, the Wynwood shaved ice cream parlor, has already opened in a temporary fashion near the front of the space.

by Sean McCaughan

Can The 12th Street Gay Beach Sustain Itself Without Palace?

Here’s a little something I’ve been wondering for a while…

by Sean McCaughan

Books Y Books Has Opened Its Newest Location at a Strip Mall in Pinecrest

Miami’s favorite/biggest/most capitalistic independent bookstore… well, ok, chain of independent bookstores (how many outlets does it take for a bookstore to lose its ‘independent’ status and become a chain?) is continuing to prosper despite the hard times for brick and mortar bookstores across the world.

by Sean McCaughan

After Six Months, Nobody’s Bought the Miami Beach Star Destroyer Site

Last year the site of the proposed house by architect Robert Bofill at 44 Star Island Drive that looks rather like a Star Destroyer from Star Wars listed for $24 million, after its owner fought the City of Miami Beach and historic preservationists to demolish the classy historic home on the property. Now, after six months it’s still on the market, the old house is still there, and, well, nothing’s budged.

by Sean McCaughan

Palace’s Last Dance at 1200 Ocean Drive Will be on the 4th of July

Palace, the famous thirty year old gay bar on Ocean Drive has announced a closing date at its original home before its planned relocation to an as-yet-unknown new space. That date is July 4th, when it will host a blowout ‘last dance’ with “special lights, sound, and production.”

by Sean McCaughan

The Rehabbed Española Way is Taking its Top Off, Metaphorically, on June 6th.

A big, showy, open-to-the-public party is being thrown for the big reveal of the new Espanola Way streetscape, in exactly two weeks from now.