In 1870, Mary Brickell along with her husband William, opened a trading post on the banks of the South Miami River, where goods were traded with the Seminole Indians. The Brickells would purchase deer skins and alligator hides from the Indians with cash while the Indians would in turn spend this cash on calico, beads and sewing machines, all sold by the Brickells. This heralded the start of development for the area.
In 1908, William Brickell passed away and Mary Brickell developed the land alongside the bay and called it “Millionaire’s Row.” In 1911, she developed Brickell Avenue and in 1912 sold 130 acres of land to James Deering, who later constructed Vizcaya. By January 1922, Mary Brickell began development on an area known as ‘The Roads” and eventually the Brickell family owned all of the coastal land between the Miami River and Coconut Grove. The area became so prestigious that it was soon one of the most exclusive neighborhoods in Miami. Today the mansions that characterized the Brickell area in the past have given way to office buildings, luxury hotels and condominiums. However, one thing has remained the same throughout, that is Mary Brickell’s vision of the area being the center of commerce for Greater Miami.
Miami has the largest concentration of international Banks in the U.S., the vast majority of them are located in the Brickell area. Brickell Avenue is a tree-lined thoroughfare that runs south from the Miami River and extends three miles to SE 26th Road/Rickenbacker Causeway. This neighborhood can be further divided into North Brickell Avenue which runs from the Miami River to SE 15th Road, and South Brickell which extends from SE 15th to SE 26th Road. South Brickell Avenue is exclusively a residential area in which all of the high rise properties are on the east side facing Biscayne Bay. All of the condominiums on South Brickell were developed before 2005 and currently offer only resale inventory. North Brickell Avenue presents itself much like Park Avenue in New York; as a divided landscaped boulevard lined by over five million square feet of modern office space set back from the street including the architecturally distinctive Espirito Santo tower.
The neighborhood houses the nation’s second largest international banking center with over 120 international financial institutions and most of the accounting and legal services that facilitate international trade. It is a stark contrast to the older, governmental buildings in the Central Business District which is also part of the Greater Downtown Miami area. Additionally, this area includes the Four Seasons, Conrad and J.W. Marriott hotels which accommodate many of the international visitors to Miami.
Most of the residential properties lie east of Brickell Avenue over to Biscayne Bay, and west of Brickell over to SW 1st Avenue, on the quieter, tree-lined side streets adjacent to the office towers. North Brickell also includes Brickell Key, a separate island accessible from 8th Street and is the home to the Mandarin Oriental Hotel and 12 separate condominium towers. As a result of its proximity to the commercial center of Miami, Brickell has evolved to become the in town most desirable place to live, work and socialize. As a result it now has a large and growing population of young professionals, empty nesters and international business people and this momentum show only signs of strengthening!
