Revitalization of Miami Beach

[Daytona74]

Hello,

so we've all read how Miami Vice has contributed to the revitalization of Miami Beach. Nothing new there. But the impression I get from watching season five episodes in particular is that some of the hotels and bars along the beach seem a lot more polished and less drab than in early seasons. Even if you factor in the fact that the production team had entire facades painted before the first few episodes were shot.

Here's what I mean: This scene from "Jack of all Trades" shows what looks to be a quite newly built open air bar, the kind that probably didn't exist yet while Miami Beach was still a sanctuary for old Jewish retirees who lived in rented ocean front hotel rooms at bargain prices:

So what's the story here... are these the first visible signs of the revitalization of the area that Miami Vice helped to spawn?

Edited January 3, 2017 by Daytona74

[miamijimf]

Good question.  It's possible that the Fairwind (Fairmont in the 80s) was one of the first visible signs of the revitalization (after the painting of the SoBe buildings by Vice of course).  Haven't been able to find much about the early history of the place.  The movie The Specialist has great looks of the Fairmont.  What I know is that it has been fenced in and marked with condemned signs and police department no trespassing signs for a long time.  I recently read an article, I think in the Miami New Times, that new management promises restoration and reuse.  According to Matt5, currently in Miami, it is an empty shell.  There is a lot of evidence for Vice's, almost immediate, effect on Miami.  It's hard to say exactly what construction/renovation project came first although Vice impacted the color scheme of Espanola Way even before they started shooting.  The increased tourism, investment, and publicity etc is documented in my ebook (noted below).  One of the first construction projects may have been in 1986.  Prior to Vice, there was little nightlife on SoBe.  According to what I read, Vice inspired the founder of Biba, the legendary swinging London boutique with a clientele that included Mick Jagger and Twiggy, to come to the Beach and design Woody’s, one of several nightclubs featured in Vice.