Alarmed by development pressures and other threats to quality of life, Center Grove residents are forming a new group to voice their concerns.
Twenty years after mobilizing to oppose a massive new Home Depot that threatened the quiet and walkability of their close-knit community, residents of Center Grove are coming together again in the face of unbridled development.
The residents have formed a new organization called Center Grove Neighbors (CGN) to help them navigate the coming change. Although just a few months old, CGN has formed working groups, developed position papers, and drafted public statements about key issues. The group hopes to build membership to a significant percentage of the neighborhood’s estimated 5,000 residents.
Center Grove — bounded roughly by 32nd Avenue, 27th Avenue, U.S. 1, and Biscayne Bay — is one of Coconut Grove’s most architecturally cohesive neighborhoods. The area is more densely populated than the other Grove neighborhoods, perhaps with the exception of South Bayshore Drive and its wall of high-rise towers.
Center Grove consists mostly of two-story duplexes and tree-lined streets. Its residents consider it a uniquely attractive — and walkable — part of Miami.
But Center Grove is experiencing a period of unprecedented growth and change. A five-story office-retail-residential building is planned for the block bounded by Grand Avenue, Matilda Street, Florida Avenue, and the U.S. Post Office parking lot. As part of that project, the developers have pledged to redesign and rebuild Kirk Munroe Park, the site of the popular Grove tennis courts and a key neighborhood asset.
Another massive project, an eight-story, wellness-focused residential tower called The Well Coconut Grove, is underway on Tigertail Avenue between 27th Avenue and Mary Street. To the dismay of some nearby residents, the project’s developers expect to receive both increased height and density allowances due to its proximity to the Coconut Grove Metrorail Station on U.S. 1.
Traffic is another issue. The city has initiated a traffic calming project for Little Bahamas and Center Grove that’s still in the planning stages, with big implications for traffic flow in the area.
Adding to the mix are the highly controversial proposed revisions to the city’s tree ordinance, which would allow clear cutting on private property. One of the prized features of Center Grove is its tree canopy.
All of these major plans and projects have made Center Grove neighbors feel that the special character of their neighborhood, not to mention its relative calm and walkability, is under assault.
“We moved here because this neighborhood is a wonderful place for our young family,” says Megan Hesketh, a mother of two who lives near the tennis courts. “It’s really magical, and we want to keep it that way.”
Many others share both her concern and her desire to keep the neighborhood from being overrun by change.
Center Grove Neighbors began to take shape last spring, when the main issue was how the traffic calming project would affect individual streets and blocks. Since then, the two new building projects, which were announced in the early fall of 2024, and the tree ordinance debate, have increasingly been the focus of neighbors’ questions, emails, and meetings.
Center Grove Neighbors is divided into five working groups. Each has a channel in the CGN WhatsApp Community: Matilda/Grand project, Kirk Munroe Park, Pedestrian Safety and Traffic Calming, Tigertail/Mary project, and Tree Ordinance.
CGN has already weighed in publicly on the tree ordinance through letters to city staff and elected officials and through speaking at public meetings. Other public statements and advocacy strategies are in the works. A sixth component of the WhatsApp community is a Services and Household channel, where Center Grove residents can advertise and find gardeners, furniture, babysitters, and the like. The CGN WhatsApp Community is open to the public, and Center Grove neighbors in particular are encouraged to join.
CGN has announced its first community potluck for 5:00 p.m. Sunday February 23, in Kirk Munroe Park. Details will be shared in the CGN WhatsApp Community. All are welcome. Since several of the South Bayshore Drive towers are within the Center Grove boundaries, CGN’s organizing committee has agreed to include all of the South Bayshore Drive buildings between Mary Street and Aviation Avenue. All have common concerns.
This is not the first time Center Grove residents have stepped up to protect their neighborhood. In the early 2000s, residents of Center Grove came together to fight a proposed Home Depot in the shopping center at 32nd Avenue and Bird Avenues, a site once occupied by a Kmart. “No Home Depot” lawn signs sprouted all over the Grove. Grassroots opposition didn’t stop the arrival of Home Depot, but it succeeded in scaling the project back dramatically.
If it hadn’t been for a local nonprofit organization, Village of Center Grove, Inc. (VOCG), and a group of committed, energetic activists, the current Home Depot might be twice its size. VOCG was so effective that it helped to launch the political career of Marc Sarnoff, who served two terms as the city commissioner for District 2. The organization met regularly, charged annual dues, and created a “33133” card that gave members discounts at cooperating local businesses.
In recent years, particularly after Covid, VOCG has been largely inactive. In an email to VOCG members several years ago, Sue McConnell, the VOCG president, announced that the group would be “on hiatus.” Center Grove Neighbors is now becoming the neighborhood’s voice.
You’ll need a WhatsApp account to join the CGN WhatsApp Community. For information about creating a WhatsApp account, click here.
To join the Center Grove Neighbors WhatsApp Community after you have a WhatsApp account, click here.
Hank Sanchez-Resnik, who has lived in Center Grove since 2013, is a community activist involved in launching Center Grove Neighbors.