Press

At 15 stories high and close to Interstate 95, The Ursa will be the Miami Design District’s first prime office building in a section of the city known for its culture and creativity. Craig Robins, CEO of Dacra, one of the partners in the developer Miami Design District Associates, thinks the Class A office space will make a significant contribution to the community of art galleries, restaurants, luxury fashion and jewelry boutiques and antique dealers.

After decades of blight, Robins and Dacra have led the redevelopment of the city neighborhood since the early 2000s. The 18-block area that historically was part of nearby Buena Vista, and a century ago was the site of a pineapple farm, today is surrounded by Wynwood, Little Haiti and the Upper East Side. A shortage of first class office property in the district and throughout Miami has driven interest among potential tenants in the $18 million Ursa building, the developer said.

This is about creating another dimension,” said Robins, whose firm is teaming on the project with L Catterton Real Estate and Brookfield Properties.
“I don’t know of another place in Miami where you can walk around and experience this level of creativity, dine and walk around the streets.”

The Ursa should be finished by the fall of 2024. The building was designed by Miami architecture firm Arquitectonica. Almost all of the 180,000 square feet of the structure will be used for offices, and there will be room for a couple of retail tenants on the ground floor.

Private balconies on each floor and a rooftop garden deck will complement the building in the neighborhood known for colorful aesthetics.

Design studio Snarkitecture founder Daniel Arsham, a graduate of Design and Architecture Senior High School in Miami will be creating artwork for the office building. He expressed optimism about how it will further showcase the Design District for an international audience. “Having an almost lifelong personal presence and relationship with the Design District, it’s an honor to be invited to collaborate with Dacra on The Ursa,” Arsham said. “The integration of the surrounding tropical landscape with worldclass architecture, contemporary art, and design sums up, to me, what is special about
Miami and this neighborhood specifically.”