Bal Harbour Positioning Statement
UNPRECEDENTED ENHANCEMENTS UNDERWAY TO COMMEMORATE
BAL HARBOUR’S DIAMOND ANNIVERSARY
Morphing from a sleepy oceanfront hamlet to a sophisticated international destination, Bal Harbour celebrated its 75th anniversary in 2021 with panache: by launching transformative projects that reflect its refined residential community, elevate experiences and are groundbreaking in the Village’s rich history.
NEW WATERFRONT PARK
What are expected to be enduring jewels in the Bal Harbour crown, the Village’s new landmark projects have begun with its first Waterfront Park, which broke ground in September 2021. The hidden enclave is almost exclusively reserved for Bal Harbour residents, save for a boat dock and kayak launch near 96th street. Nestled across from the Village’s current Town Hall, the new Park will feature wide-open grassy areas for soccer and frisbee, strolling gardens, meditative spaces, progressive exercise zones, and a “Mother Earth-cycle-of-life”-themed playground designed by award-winning Danish firm, Monstrum. A tiered event space, a splash path, and additional Raymond Jungles-designed landscaping include a forest-style canopy that leads visitors into the new Community Center, created by Bernard Zyscovich, the same architect steering Bal Harbour Shops’ $550 million expansion. The intimate, three-story geometric jewel box is filled with illusion, yet a functional piece of art that beautifies the Village. Its transparent mirrored glass design will reflect the park from the outside and bring nature inside, where three stories will house multi-purpose event spaces, teen and ballet rooms, a fitness facility and more. A third-floor landscaped and artfully covered roof deck will have magnificent water and city views and be multifunctional for use as party and pre-function spaces or for relaxation while kids are playing in the park below. Expected completion is Spring 2023.
A REIMAGINED JETTY
The Bal Harbour Jetty, a functional concrete expanse built by the Army Corps of Engineers nearly 100 years ago on the Village’s northern tip, is about to get a world-class facelift. Recognized for its ability to transport walkers, bicyclists and fishermen far out to the Atlantic Ocean to enjoy breezes and spectacular views, the narrow rock rubble pathway is timeworn and crumbling. Village Manager Jorge Gonzalez, who as the youngest and longest-serving City Manager in Miami Beach created its iconic South Pointe Park in 2009, saw the jetty as an underutilized amenity to transform and bookend his South Beach creation. “We have this jetty that attracts tourists and residents, yet it is this big wall; a sidewalk with cracks and potholes instead of a place where people can interact with the water,” says Gonzalez. “My trajectory as a City Manager has always been about public space, urban planning and creating a destination and amenities for our residents and visitors,” he says. To reimagine the jetty as an iconic landmark, the village engaged Boston-based Mikyoung Kim Design, whose architectural plans included deep-sea dives to record marine habitats, expand coral colonies and design lighting to manage turtle nesting grounds. Using biophilic design, residents and visitors will walk close to aquatic habitats through new graded pathways that allow light to emerge and conversely protect migration patterns and habitats that require light to survive. The new jetty will balance human and aquatic engagement while honoring its history and create a safe, modern experience for all Bal Harbour visitors. Within a Nature Playground, children will frolic through pathways, relax in grass, watch marine life and discover their place in the natural world. Adults will have a quarter of a mile to walk or bicycle, with alcoves, pedestals and catwalks on which to meditate, relax and engage the waterfront shoreline landscape, gather with friends and make rich discoveries with each new visit. The jetty’s elevated design will allow guests to overcome a century-old visual barrier to the sea, with protective handrails leading them down a widened pathway to the jetty’s end, where a navigational beacon – a bare amber bulb within a wooden tripod – will serve as new design landmark and important gateway for aquatic travel. There, tiered stairs will gradually lead beyond the boulders into the protected lagoon for visitors to enter the water and swim, or simply have another spot from which to sit and gaze at the beach and skyline. Years in planning, City Manager Gonzalez led the jetty renovation with “creative negotiations with Bal Harbour Shops, aggressive granting at the county and state levels and no debt for Bal Harbour residents,” he says. “It’s design from an aerial view will create a signature element that will be recognizable to Bal Harbour and become an iconic landmark.”
Expected completion date is mid-2024.
BEACH RENOURISHMENT
People know when they’re in Bal Harbour by its manicured walkways, blooming flowers, luxury shopping, magnificent hotels and beaches that are as close to a private island as one can have in South Florida. Bal Harbour’s beaches are a tranquil oasis a mere 20 minutes from two international airports, 30 minutes from South Beach and Midtown, and 15 minutes to Wynwood and Design District nightlife; in the heart of the bustle, yet quiet, safe and clean. The nearly private one square-mile enclave is renowned for its turquoise waters and pristine white sand, which the Village rakes daily above and beyond the County’s maintenance regimen. In the Spring of 2022, the beach underwent its most significant renourishment in Village history to widen it with 240,000 cubic yards of sand. Selected in concert with scientists and environmental engineers for temperature and grain compatibility specifically for turtles and their nesting needs, the new sand will beautify Bal Harbour beach making it twice as wide, while remaining a prime location for turtle nesting season.
BAL HARBOUR SHOPS EXPANSION
Always a significant partner for the Village of Bal Harbour, Bal Harbour Shops remains one of the area’s most sought-after amenities for sophisticated residents and visitors. Located across from the beach, the three-story open air, people-watching paradise with its lush gardens, koi ponds, refined boutiques and popular restaurants remains one of the country’s most successful shopping centers per square foot. The Shops, as it is affectionately known, is currently undergoing a $500 million expansion that is adding roughly 241,600 square-feet of new retail space, to include 40 new stores and restaurants. New boutiques include Lalique, Christofle, Davidor, Michael Aram, Le Labo, Cremieux, Maria Tash, Isaia and Isabel Marant. Wildly popular Japanese restaurant Makoto moved to the third floor into a beautiful new location doubling it’s footprint, while celebrated Aba restaurant will make it’s Florida, and Bal Harbour Shops debuts in the Fall of 2022. The Shops enhancement plan provides more than $100 million in public benefits to Bal Harbour Village, including millions of dollars specifically earmarked for the new Waterfront Park. The Bal Harbour Shops expansion is scheduled for completion in 2024.
BAL HARBOUR HOTELS
From the classic Rat Pack-era Sea View hotel to the luxury Ritz-Carlton, Bal Harbour and St. Regis Bal Harbour Resort properties and new Beach Haus extended stay hotel, Bal Harbour has four options for visitors who crave history, opulence and apartment-style independence, all while tucked away in an elegant one-square-mile enclave.
Opened in 1948 the oceanfront Sea View is a nostalgic step back in time and predates Bal Harbour Shops, which opened in 1965. Two hundred and twenty newly renovated guestrooms have private balconies with terraces and views of the Atlantic Ocean and Biscayne Bay. Junior Suites include a kitchenette, while one- and two-bedroom suites expand to full kitchens.
Opened with much fanfare in 2012, the extravagant St. Regis Bal Harbour Resort is on nine oceanfront acres directly across from Bal Harbour Shops. Its 227 ocean view guestrooms are largely known for their enormous balconies in every room category, while the grand hotel is recognized for its contemporary art, captivating sculptures and elegantly mirrored lobby.
The closest hotel to the Bal Harbour jetty, The Ritz-Carlton Bal Harbour boasts 750-feet of pristine beachfront, which will be part of the new reimagined jetty experience. The epitome of luxury, its 95 rooms and executive suites offer full kitchens and large living areas, each with semi-private elevators and personal entrances to all accommodations, with private terraces overlooking the ocean and Intracoastal waterway.
Both St. Regis and The Ritz-Carlton have residences as part of their footprint, which adds to their international allure.
The 33 unit Beach Haus Bal Harbour opened its doors in 2010 along Bal Harbour’s Intracoastal waterway, and quickly became a favorite for families with children and extended stay travelers who enjoy spacious residence-style studios, one- and two-bedroom suites and meditation gardens. Exceedingly popular, the hotel will open an additional 63 units in the Fall of 2022.
A NEW ERA
As the Village of Bal Harbour enters a new era with enhancement projects that are unprecedented in its 75-year history, it is recognized for activations and events it creates for residents and guests, including a live music series near the jetty where genres from jazz to classical come alive under the stars. A newly developed Unscripted Bal Harbour Art Access Program is unique to the Village and has participating museums and art institutions lead private tours exclusively for Bal Harbour resident and hotel guests year ‘round. Mayor Gabriel Groisman remarks that these enhancements are simply adding to the destination’s already undeniable allure: “Bal Harbour is a private enclave perfectly situated where you have access to all areas of Miami-Dade County” he says. “But when you get home, you don’t have to leave; you experience a small village lifestyle and can walk to a bistro, go to the beach, go to any of the restaurants at the hotels or Bal Harbour Shops. As we celebrate our 75th anniversary, Bal Harbour will be as safe and luxurious as you’ve always known it to be; as pretty and as vibrant, yet more so with all new amenities and public spaces. It will be everything you’ve loved about Bal Harbour and then some.”