Brickell, Miami, Florida

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Brickell (pronounced "BRICK-uhl") is an urban neighborhood in Miami, Florida, United States. Along with Downtown, Brickell is Miami and South Florida's major financial district. Brickell is also a dense, high-rise residential neighborhood with many upscale, luxury condominium and apartment towers. Referred to as the "Manhattan of the South"^[1], Brickell is home to the largest concentration of international banks in the United States, mostly along Brickell Avenue, Brickell's main north-south avenue and along Miami Avenue, home to many popular Miami restaurants, shops and places of entertainment.^[2] A few hundred feet east of the northeastern side of Brickell is Brickell Key, a gated island of upscale, high-rise residential and hotel towers. As of 2009, over 190,000 office employees work in Downtown and Brickell.^[3]

Brickell looking south from Downtown (2006).

[edit] Geography

Brickell and Brickell Key.

Brickell lies south of the Miami River, extending south to SE 26th Road (the Rickenbacker Causeway), and is mostly mixed financial and residential north of Broadway, and mostly residential south of Broadway. Brickell is home to approximately 17,500 year-round residents.^[4]^[5] The area of Brickell south of Broadway and is mainly low and mid-rise residential buildings west of Brickell Avenue and high-rise residential to the east of Brickell Avenue. This area of Brickell includes the "Millionaires' Row" section of Brickell Avenue, home to many expensive residences, and home to many of Miami's most expensive apartments and condominiums, as well as some iconic Miami skyscrapers, such as the Atlantis Condominium.

Although Brickell has traditionally been known as a financial district, in recent years, construction of numerous condominium and apartment towers in Brickell, has extended the upscale residential neighborhood feel of lower Brickell into upper Brickell. Recent construction in Brickell has also enlarged the urban core of Brickell from Brickell Avenue west to the Metrorail line, with new office and residential towers, such as Axis at Brickell Village. Today, over 25,000 residents live in Brickell.

At the center of Brickell is Mary Brickell Village, with an assortment of restaurants, boutiques, services that create a gathering area for high-class retail and restaurants. Some the best and most well-known names are leasing space in the project. The project is designed after a French style village and attracts social gathering and entertainment.

To the north of Brickell is Downtown, with most of the area's public elementary schools and Miami Dade College's Wolfson Campus. Downtown is also home to the Miami Main Library, as well as various parks, theatres, museums, and sporting venues. South of Brickell is Coconut Grove, with Mercy Hospital, CocoWalk, Dinner Key, Vizcaya, as well as many historic sites and parks. Coconut Grove also has many of Miami's best private schools, such as Ransom Everglades, Carrollton School of the Sacred Heart, and La Salle High School.

West of Brickell is Little Havana, extending from SW 8th St westward. East of Brickell is Biscayne Bay, and eastward along the Rickenbacker Causeway, is Virginia Key and Key Biscayne. Both keys have many public beaches, nature preserves, parks, and various other cultural venues. Also east, along the MacArthur Causeway is South Beach.

[edit] Demographics

As of 2000, the population of Brickell had 11,529 people (excluding the demographics and population of Brickell Key and Mary Brickell Village). The zip codes for Brickell include 33129, 33130, and 33131. The area covers 1.084 square miles. As of 2000, there were 5,557 males and 5,972 females. The median age for males were 38.4 years old, while the median age for females were 40.6 years old. The average household size had 1.8 people, while the average family size had 2.6 members. The percentage of married-couple families (among all households) was 30.3%, while the percentage of married-couple families with children (among all households) was 8.5%, and the percentage of single-mother households (among all households) was 4.3%. The percentage of never-married males 15 years old and over was 20.2%, while the percentage of never-married females 15 years old and over was 16.0%.^[6]

As of 2000, the percentage of people that speak English not well or not at all made up 27.7% of the population. The percentage of residents born in Florida was 17.1%, the percentage of people born in another U.S. state was 13.7%, and the percentage of native residents but born outside the U.S. was 3.9%, while the percentage of foreign born residents was 65.3%.^[6]

The Icon Brickell complex marks the northern entrance to the Brickell Financial District on Brickell Avenue

[edit] Education and institutions

[edit] Elementary schools

St. Jude Catholic Church on the corner of Brickell Avenue and Broadway.

Miami-Dade County Public Schools operates area public schools:

Southside Elementary School
Ada Merritt Elementary School
Riverside Elementary School

There are also private schools:

First Presbyterian International Christian School (Christian)
Gordon Day School (Jewish)

[edit] Libraries

Miami Main Library

[edit] Places of worship

First Presbyterian Church (1898)
St. Jude Catholic Church (1946)
Immanuel Lutheran Church

[edit] Transportation

The Riverwalk Station on the Metromover's Brickell Loop.

Public Transportation in the Downtown/Brickell area is used more than in any other part of Miami and is a vital part of Brickell life. Metrorail, Miami's heavy rail system, has one station in Brickell at the Brickell Station. In addition to Metrorail, the Metromover train system runs 3 lines throughout Downtown (the Downtown Loop, the Omni Loop, and the Brickell Loop). The Metromover connects with Metrorail and is free. Metromover stations can be found at roughly every two blocks in Brickell.

Metrorail has stops throughout Miami with connections to Miami International Airport, all Miami-Dade County bus lines, Tri-Rail and Amtrak. The main bus station in Downtown is located next to the Arsht Center at the Adrienne Arsht Center Station.

[edit] Select companies in Brickell

Aon Corporation
Espírito Santo Financial Group (U.S. headquarters)
SouthOne Capital (Real Estate Wealth Management)
Greenberg Traurig (Headquarters)
Banco Santander
Bank of America
UBS
Four Seasons (hotel)
Grant Thornton LLP (public accounting firm)
Washington Mutual
HSBC
Colonial Bank
BankAtlantic
OceanBank
SunTrust
J.W. Marriott (hotel)
State Trust
Banco Industrial de Venezuela
Mellon Financial
U.S. Century Bank
BiscayneAmericas Advisers
Pacific National Bank (Banco del Pacifico, Ecuador)

[edit] Parks

Allen Morris Brickell Park

Looking north on Brickell Avenue.

Mary Brickell Village is a popular dining and shopping destination in Brickell.

Simpson Park- (nature preserve) S. Miami Ave and Broadway
Alice Wainwright Park- (nature preserve) Brickell Ave and the Rickenbacker Causeway
Southside Park- SW 1st Ave and SW 11th St
Allen Morris Brickell Park- SE 10th St and SE 1st Ave
Brickell Park- Brickell Ave and SE 5th St
Miami Circle- Brickell Avenue Bridge (next to Icon Brickell towers)
Brickell Key Park- 805 Claughton Island Dr

[edit] Brickell skyscrapers

[edit] Office towers

[edit] Residential towers

[edit] Gallery

American Indian monument on bridge over the Miami River connecting Brickell with Downtown	Miami Avenue	View of Brickell	Four Seasons Hotel Miami
Asia on Brickell Key	Espirito Santo Plaza	Axis at Brickell Village	701 Brickell Avenue
St. Jude Catholic Church	Plaza on Brickell towers	Atlantis Condominium	Brickell Avenue
Upper Brickell before recent construction boom	Lower Brickell before recent construction boom	The northern Brickell skyline at night as seen from the Mandarin Oriental on Brickell Key