Developers bought big chunk of Little Haiti. The result so far is a ‘happy’ surprise

In Miami’s imperiled Little Haiti, the developers who stunned the neighborhood at the end of 2022 by snapping up a bundle of main-street commercial properties are trying something different and unexpected.

Little by little, they’re beautifying the rundown properties and bringing them up to code, while working to restore a dose of the immigrant enclave’s faded color and spirit.

The go-small, neighborhood-friendly approach by Fort Lauderdale’s Midgard Group has started bearing fruit some 20 months after the firm’s bulk purchase in a foreclosure auction of key buildings along Northeast Second Avenue, Little Haiti’s struggling commercial heart, which raised fears of redevelopment, evictions and accelerating gentrification.

The clearest sign of improvement: the opening in July of the color-splashed Choublak Little Haiti Visitor Center and Garden , which on weekends now hosts a Haitian and Caribbean crafts shop, a Saturday market, live and d.j. music and konpa dancing.

A couple of blocks north, the corner building that houses neighborhood stalwart Santa Barbara Botanica, which sells vodou-related goods, and a beauty salon and other shops catering to the community is undergoing upgrades inside and out. That includes new exterior paint and signs that match the Little Haiti aesthetic. New gingerbread roof trim to replace the old deteriorated wood detail is coming soon.

On Northeast 59th street, Midgard was forced to demolish another local commercial landmark after discovering severe structural deterioration that had previously gone unaddressed, but its signature corner store, Louis Market, is coming back. It will move to a small, long-vacant building next door that Midgard is fully renovating.

On the now-vacant lot, Midgard’s senior vice president, Aaron Goldstein, plans a smaller version of the old Wynwood Yard that helped usher in that district’s transformation. Lakou, or yard in Haitian Creole, will be hosting events, vendors and live music starting this fall, Goldstein said.

Goldstein himself has moved in, setting up operations in a former dry cleaners on Northeast 62nd Street that was converted into a minimalist, loft-like office by the previous owner of the properties, Mallory Kauderer.

The community-minded approach, Goldstein said, is not the result of any grand blueprint for redevelopment, but comes from speaking to and listening to people who live and work in Little Haiti, including Midgard’s existing tenants.

The aim is to help stabilize the commercial strip by building on what’s already there, bringing in new local businesses and operators, and generating activity that will draw residents, visitors and adventuresome tourists looking for a taste of Haitian and Caribbean culture, he said.

“We’re not that type of developer that’s just running numbers,” Goldstein, who grew up in Miami, said. “We want the buildings and the community to talk to us. You have to create an inclusive environment to have a safe and enjoyable neighborhood. We’re pushing to have a good blend of everything.”

The low-key strategy has been reassuring to some Little Haiti residents, business owners and activists who had feared Midgard’s purchases would accelerate neighborhood gentrification. Population loss, government neglect, rampant real-estate speculation and the redevelopment eating away at Little Haiti’s borders have cast doubt over the future of one of Miami’s defining immigrant neighborhoods.

“I’m really happy with what they’ve been doing,” said Sandy Dorsainvil, a veteran Little Haiti promoter who is managing the new visitor center. “They’ve kept with the aesthetics of the community. He’s really putting in some effort in keeping the color palette. He’s helping the businesses and keeping rents reasonable.”

The genesis of the center illustrates Goldstein’s tuned-in style. Dorsainvil, who also runs the long-running Sounds of Little Haiti monthly live-music event, said she initially approached Midgard for office space.

She and Goldstein began brainstorming over the impact of the indefinite closure of the landmark, city-owned Caribbean Marketplace, which provided space to local vendors and served as a focal point for tourists. The building, modeled after a traditional Haiti market, was shut down abruptly in June because of serious roof and AC issues.

At the same time, the city also suspended most programming at the adjacent Little Haiti Cultural Center. The director of the center and the market subsequently quit after barely a year on the job, citing “systemic issues” with the city’s oversight.

Dorsainvil, who had previously served twice as Cultural Center manager but was fired in 2022 after complaining about a lack of resources from the city, said she and Goldstein came up with the idea of providing a new home for the marketplace vendors and activities. He quickly helped her get it up and running.

“He jumped at the idea of helping me open this visitors center,” Dorsainvil said. “We appreciate that in a real way. Now we’re able to fill that void in that area, making people feel comfortable about coming into the neighborhood and, more importantly, getting people used to Little Haiti being a tourist destination.”

Goldstein has also found himself addressing longstanding but long-ignored zoning issues. One of Midgard’s key tenants, the Laundromat Art Space , had been operating without proper zoning. The nonprofit center provides artists’ studios and holds exhibitions.

The Miami commission has approved new commercial zoning for the building on first reading, and Goldstein says he expects a second and final vote soon. Midgard also provides a rent subsidy to the art center.

“He’s really done a lot to encourage the creative folks in the area to stay, because it’s been really difficult,” Dorsainvil said.

So far, Goldstein appears to be finding a measure of success where Kauderer, formerly the longtime owner of the Little Haiti portfolio, struggled to maintain the buildings and properties.

His tenants complained that upkeep had suffered under Kauderer, who ran into dire financial straits during the COVID-19 pandemic after some of his tenants went out of business, leaving hard-to-fill vacancies behind. As Kauderer fell behind on loan repayments, Midgard, which Kauderer brought in as minority investors to bolster his company finances, eventually sued to force a foreclosure sale of all the properties.

Goldstein, son of Midgard founder James Goldstein, was put in charge of the Little Haiti properties. One of the first things he did was organize and lead community graffiti and trash clean-ups.

He also commissioned Haitian-American artist Serge Toussaint to paint a mural at the site of the demolished building that makes reference to Haiti’s current turmoil, and another, of a luxuriantly flowering hibiscus vine on a pink background, by artist James Brutus, on the visitor center’s facade.

Toussaint, meanwhile, has a solo show of his work through Sept. 4 at the Laundromat.

Goldstein is also helping stabilize his tenants’ shaky finances. The businesses were previously on month-to-month leases, a common Little Haiti practice, but Midgard is giving them three-year agreements and help with planning so they can qualify for grants and bank loans.

At the Santa Barbara Botanica building, he is bringing in new community-oriented enterprises, including a dance studio and a variety store. At the visitor center, Dorsainvil has brought in 20 makers and vendors of arts and crafts, including dresses and handbags, and books on Haiti and Little Haiti. Tours stop in at the garden on weekends.

Next up, Goldstein said, will be opening up a restaurant on another property on the corridor, though plans are not yet finalized, and attracting a bank branch to the neighborhood, which has none.

For the long term, Goldstein insists, he has no plans beyond expanding the menu of what he refers to as “curated events.”

And cultivating patience.

“This is the plan,” he said. “I don’t have a crystal ball. Miami grows and grows. I don’t think anything stays the same for very long. But we have a community of people and a culture that’s interesting and cool for Miami. We have been working hard the last year and having fun with the community.

“It’s been very validating. We hope to maintain the good energy and try to educate people on Haitian culture,” Goldstein said. “Where it goes will depend on people, trends, the culture. My goal is to create enough activity and energy in Little Haiti that other operators will come.

“And then, who knows? I don’t.”