Why Miami’s buzzy Little River is attracting savvy property investors

Don’t be fooled by its name or dodgy reputation: Miami’s Little River has big potential and is currently benefiting from major buzz.

Little River is one of the city’s oldest neighborhoods. Due to its location along the pint-sized waterway that flows into nearby Biscayne Bay, it was one of the first places in Florida settled by indigenous tribes. From a bird’s-eye view, it looks like a 1.25-square-mile industrial eyesore. But on the ground? It’s starting to look like it could be the next Wynwood. 

“With easy access to the city’s main arteries, it’s a neighborhood that blends the best of Miami’s eclectic culture,” said Dan Schor, a partner at AJ Capital Partners, a Nashville-based real estate investment firm that is the area’s primary developer. “Over the next several years, we plan to develop a variety of multi-family apartment projects, all designed to bring a human scale to Little River while preserving the neighborhood’s character.”

Expect, he said, garden-style residences and townhouses, as well as low- and mid-rise apartment buildings.

Currently, most Little River listings are fixer-uppers. They range from a 500-square-foot condo — listed for $148,000 — cocooned in a chain-link fence with razor wire at the top to a 6,534 square-foot riverfront vacant lot — asking $1.6 million — in desperate need of a date with a landscaper. Still, Ramona Bautista, a local realtor with the Keyes Company, recently sold two listings in Little River.

“The neighborhood is evolving quickly, providing both buyers and investors with the opportunity to be part of its transformation,” she said.

Nickel M. Goeseke, a local agent representing a $12.9 million waterfront mansion in neighboring Belle Meade, is optimistic. “Little River is just getting started,” he said, “and will continue to improve as more and more people move and visit the area.” 

So far, Little River’s biggest draw is dinner.

“The hardest reservation in Miami to get is now Sunny’s Steakhouse,” Goeseke said.

Just across the railroad tracks, foodies find Michelin-rated Ogawa, a 10-seat sushi bar boasting the highest ratings of all one-star Michelin restaurants in the US. More destination eateries are on their way including a 9,000-square-foot Fooq’s.

“I thought this was a real opportunity to create an amazing destination dining venue with a great nightlife component in a neighborhood that was desperately needing it,” Fooq’s owner David Foulquir said.

Still, even he isn’t quite sold on living in the area quite yet — he’s shopping in El Portal, Little River’s neighbor to the north. Steve Santana, chef and partner of Off Site nano-brewery and kitchen, agreed.

“I would actually be surprised if you found someone who lives here because it’s still very up and coming,” Santana said. “A lot of growth and development on the way, but currently, it’s still a bit rough around the edges, if you know what I mean.”