Spotlight 199-260414

Good morning. What we’re covering in today’s Spotlight:

  • The Loss of a Much-Loved Mural
  • The Week Ahead: Another Playhouse Debate

When excavators arrive this month to knock down the former home of the Coconut Grove Laundry & Cleaners, the neighborhood will lose one of its best-known storefront buildings – and the captivating art that adorns its walls.

By Jenny Jacoby

Perched above the entrance to the Coconut Grove Laundry & Cleaners at Grand Avenue and Matilda Street, a royal blue peacock stands tall, watching over the steady stream of pedestrians who pass beneath its perch every day. 

To the right, a small colony of parrots populate a thin wire, with bumble bees above and butterflies below. To the left, a curious iguana emerges from a tangle of vines, and a ruby red hibiscus flower bursts into bloom.

Wild and untamed, the painted scene draped across the yellow storefront is a tribute to the Grove’s natural beauty, a garden of art stretched across the exterior of one the neighborhood’s best-known family businesses.


Critics of the county’s plan to revive the historic Coconut Grove Playhouse with shops, restaurants, office space and a parking garage will have another chance this week to voice their dismay over the county’s overall approach to restoration.

By Don Finefrock

Miami-Dade County is headed back before a City of Miami planning board this week, seeking permission to move forward with its development plan for the Coconut Grove Playhouse – a necessity that gives critics of the plan another chance to object.

County officials are asking the Planning, Zoning and Appeals Board (PZAB) to grant five exceptions and four zoning waivers so they can restore the playhouse’s 1926 façade, construct a new 310-seat theater behind it, and build a parking garage next door.

The county has been here before. PZAB previously approved the county’s plan in 2018, but that approval expired, requiring a new application and a return visit on Wednesday. The city’s planning director and his staff are recommending approval.


Readers React:  A Spotlight reader imagines what a conversation between a local developer and a zoning lawyer might sound like, on the eve of another fight over the fate of the Coconut Grove Playhouse…  

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Recent News

Spotlight reporter and self-confessed landlubber Jenny Jacoby set sail this month with the Coconut Grove Sailing Club, getting her feet wet on a sailboat for the first time as a…

Local preservationists who oppose Miami-Dade County’s plan to revive the historic playhouse as a smaller theater with shops, restaurants and parking lost another round in court this week when a…

The Coconut Grove Theatre Festival returns next week with a fresh lineup of original plays performed over four days, including two plays written for children and presented back-to-back in a…

Four decades after Yiannis Antoniadis was shot dead in his Coconut Grove penthouse, the clues remain — but the killer has never been found.

Local arborist Ian Wogan relocated 17 trees last month from a construction site on Tigertail Avenue where The WELL Coconut Grove is slated to rise; eight of those trees found…

With a key hearing on a possible Grove carveout last week canceled, Miami’s density transfer proposal is back on track in its original form — renewing concerns that units tied…

New internal permitting policies are in, the longtime tree protection chief is out, and the city is gearing up for another round with residents to rewrite its tree laws.

Miami filmmakers, including two from Coconut Grove, are benefitting from the film festival’s efforts to showcase local talent. The 2026 festival opens next week.

A pair of zoning changes set for review this week would let developers build higher and denser near bike and pedestrian “greenways” like the Commodore Trail and the Underline in…

The go-to laundry service for many Coconut Grove residents moved west this week to a temporary location at 3634 Grand Ave., with plans for a new permanent facility around the…

It’s festival season in the Grove — O, Miami poetry sparks the creative mind, the Miami Film Festival is picking up speed, and the Coconut Grove Theatre Festival is busy…

The Miami City Commission agreed Thursday to insulate Coconut Grove from a proposed expansion of a program that allows developers to transfer density credits from affordable housing projects in certain…

The fate of the Pan Am seaplane terminal at Dinner Key has been a topic of concern for Grove residents since late last month when the Miami Herald published a…

The cost of last year’s election fiasco for Miami taxpayers may double this week, if the Miami City Commission agrees to pay $150,000 in legal fees incurred by former mayoral…

To the Editor: Is it actually true or an April Fools prank that Miami City Hall is finally vacating Coconut Grove’s historic Pan Am Terminal to relocate at the Miami…


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