Miami's Booming Wynwood Adds Issues of Late-Night Noise

Music floated into Tatiana Politi’s apartment in Miami’s Wynwood neighborhood, which is thriving with edgy venues, new projects and an unwanted side effect — heated clashes over booming music.

On one side are residents like Politi, developers and some Wynwood Business Improvement District board members taking issue mostly with outdoor music. The city code forbids outdoor music after 11 p.m., but enclosed venues can play until 3 a.m.

“The noise was extreme,” Politi said in an email.

On the other side are event operators and big property owner Moishe Mana, who maintains he and other hardworking business owners are being harassed after investing in neighborhood revitalization.

“They want at 11 o’clock closed. Are you kidding me? Are you crazy?” Mana responded in an interview. “Many of the people in Miami don’t have a place to go party. Why do you want to destroy it?”

The city on Saturday shut down the popular open-air Wynwood Marketplace, home to merchants, food trucks and The Deck bar, all operating on Mana’s property.

“Really what we are talking about here is one or two operators who have gone rogue,” BID chairman Albert Garcia said Wednesday at a meeting when gripes were aired. ”It’s not about the party. It’s about making sure these businesses can co-exist. It’s one thing to try to contain it. It’s another thing to say no and then they crank it up, which is what these guys are doing.”

Some are concerned that as the biggest property owner, Mana was getting special treatment, Garcia said.

Mana also is the biggest landlord along downtown Miami’s main drag, Flagler Street, but his redevelopment plans are at a standstill.

“I am not suggesting that he does, but I think that there’s a lot of concern out there that he might,” Garcia said.

At the meeting, Jon Paul Perez of The Related Group, which built the Wynwood 25 luxury apartments, said residents are wary of moving into parts of the building that are closer to entertainment venues. Politi, who is a Related business manager, said at least four residents bought white-noise machines to block out the sounds of partying.

Tony Albelo, head of Wynwood Marketplace operator SWARM Inc., didn’t return a request for comment.

But Mana responded with strong words for the BID, a city board representing 400 property owners in 50 blocks.

“These board members are racist, and the people behind them are racist,” Mana said. “They say, ‘It’s not the right crowd.’ So who is the right crowd for you? Your job is to work for the city but not to judge people, how they look and how much money they have. I am fuming” over what happened at the meeting.

As for the residential projects, Mana questioned the rationale of deciding to live in Wynwood if a tenant wants a quiet place.

“Why did you come there? Not only this, they put these windows thin as a piece of paper, and you walk down the street you can hear inside,” he said.

Mana is a lightning rod for neighborhood tension. About five years ago, he obtained city approval for a Wynwood Special Area Plan, a code provision that allows the owner of more than 9 acres to exceed standard development restrictions in exchange for community benefits.

Mana planned a thriving trade district that would bring in companies from Asia and Latin America. In return, his community benefits included job creation for Overtown residents. He hasn’t moved on his plan but has allowed venues like Wynwood Marketplace to operate on his property.

Garcia said he hopes Mana’s vision comes to fruition but notes it might never happen.

“He has those entitlements, and what he is doing is the complete opposite. Sometimes they had outdoor concerts and sellers. We have nothing against any of that, but they have to be done in a way that is compatible with the neighborhood,” Garcia said.

In response to the assertion of racism, Garcia said he just wants everyone to follow the rules and encouraged Mana to collaborate with the BID.

For his part, Mana said Wynwood still is in the process of being activated, and his trade center plan is on hold because of the U.S.-China trade war. He said without much elaboration that part of his SAP plan changed, saying it would include two-story buildings even though he is allowed to build higher.

Not South Beach

The sound issue is intertwined with a bigger debate of Wynwood’s future.

The historically Puerto Rican neighborhood once had a thriving textile industry and warehouse district. In the last decade, muralists started painting warehouse walls, and speculative developers scooped up properties and converted them to galleries, bars and restaurants with an international draw.

An influx of apartment, condominium and residential development came into the booming party scene.

“The tension is a very natural tension as a neighborhood evolves. There is no place like Wynwood, but I think it is suffering from a little bit of an identity crisis. What are we? Where are we? Where are we going?” said Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, who attended the BID meeting. “We have to be very, very careful in this neighborhood because it’s a very fragile situation.”

All sides agree they don’t want another tourist-centric South Beach.

Mana says he is providing affordable entertainment options not found in South Beach.

“There are people who want to spend $20 a night and walk by the food trucks, and spend some money and hear some music. They don’t want to pay per bottle like they do in South Beach,” he said.

Garcia said the Wynwood community already knows how it wants to evolve. The BID, which is a custodian of a special business taxing district, was formed in 2013 and developed a comprehensive Neighborhood Revitalization Plan.

“There’s no doubt. The community has already spoken time and again on what it wants to be,” he said. ”We clearly know what we want to be and where we are headed.”