Miami Design District visionary Craig Robins hints at the district’s ever-expanding future.

The Museum Garage in Miami Design District PHOTO: COURTESY OF MIAMI DESIGN DISTRICT

Craig Robins (@craigrobins), the visionary developer behind the Miami Design District, likes to speak with a hint of the transcendental—of the completeness of an idea, yet an idea that never stops moving forward. “There’s some kind of creative force in the universe,” he says over a Zoom call in October. “You want to connect with it, and then everything else you do should be in furtherance of that.”

Virgil Abloh, “Dollar a Gallon III” (2019) PHOTO: BY LUIS GOMEZ

He was underscoring what has made the evolution of the Miami Design District—often shortened to MDD and renowned for having ascended over the past 20 years as an art, luxury shopping and social nexus on par with the world’s best—so resoundingly successful. Robins’ dream for his creative neighborhood was (and remains) “long term,” requiring patience and lengthier investments as opposed to, say, quickly filling spaces with high-credit tenants, who ultimately don’t “elevate the spirit of the place.” (He cites an example from a prior project on Miami Beach, during which he rented a property to a cash-rich discount shoe brand, which was “totally contrarian. I should have found some cool little fashion shop instead.”)

Alexander McQueen’s Nuage. PHOTO: BY ORIOL TARRIDAS

Slowish expansion and steady commitment have now paid massive dividends for the MDD. Robins’ “spirit of the place” is thriving—yes, there are corporatized luxe brands à la Gucci and Chanel, but the District is also home to a boutique for the Miami-born skate label Andrew, Baccarat (the privately held and centuries-old French crystal company, which has a great cafe component at the MDD store) and Mother Wolf, the red-hot restaurant from chef Evan Funke. On top of its venues, there’s also a constantly growing and rotating public art display—this writer’s favorite is a piece called “Bus Stop” (2017) by Urs Fischer.

Miami Design District founder Craig Robins reflects on the neighborhood’s history. PHOTO: COURTESY OF MIAMI DESIGN DISTRICT

The visionary developer behind the Miami District, likes to speak with a hint of the transcendental–of the completeness of an idea, yet an idea that never stops moving forward.

Most importantly, Robins’ long game on the MDD isn’t even yet at halftime. There is much more to come. He and his team “will add a lot to the mixed-use nature of the neighborhood,” which will include “an incredible 100-room, five-star boutique hotel” and a “beautiful condo tower with David Chipperfield as the architect.” Incoming artworks include pieces by Alteronce Gumby and Nicole Nomsa Moyo. And then, Robins says with yet another hint of his almost mystical penchant, he adds: “We’re also working on an office building with the artist Daniel Arsham. The cool thing about Daniel is that he went to high school at DASH, which is in the District. His first gallery was here. He’s this amazing artist who grew up in Miami and is now working on a building with us. It’s really bringing it full circle.”