Spotlight 241001 Grand Ave. Kampong

In today’s Spotlight,

An evolving vision for Grand Avenue
Kampong break-in mystery

More Development Coming to Grand Avenue

The developers behind three apartment projects in the West Grove are planning a fourth project – a four-story office building on Grand Avenue. Community leaders express frustration.

by Don Finefrock

An architectural rendering of the proposed four-story office building with ground-floor retail space on Grand Avenue. (Image courtesy of Silver Bluff)

A trio of development partners with three separate projects and 248 market-rate apartments under development in the West Grove are planning to build a fourth project that will bring new office space and more retail activity to a desolate stretch of Grand Avenue.

The partners plan to begin marketing the project – called 3443 Grand – to prospective commercial tenants this week. Construction is slated to begin next year, with an estimated completion date in the spring of 2026.

The proposed four-story building will stretch across six vacant properties on the north side of Grand Avenue between Hibiscus and Elizabeth Streets, with 80,000 square feet of Class A office space, two ground-floor retail locations, covered parking, and three elevated terraces on the back of the building looking north to Florida Avenue.

Suspects, Motive Remain Elusive in Kampong Break-In

Intruder leaves $250,000 in damage and unexplained clues; Police and staff puzzled by unusual crime scene.

by Mary Ann Esquivel-Gibbs

The grounds of The Kampong, a nine-acre botanical garden and research facility on Douglas Road in South Coconut Grove. (Photo courtesy of Friends of the Commodore Trail).

A break-in at Coconut Grove’s Kampong botanical garden in early September has left several items broken, up to a quarter million dollar in damage, and police investigators scratching their heads.

After arriving for work Monday morning September 9 garden staff encountered multiple signs of an intruder within the ground’s buildings: a snapped ruler, a ripped-up historical photo, damaged artwork, left-over pizza, bread tossed on the ground, soap placed in wading boots used by employees, and a statue carefully positioned on a desk atop a pool of spilled blue Gatorade.

Nothing was taken, including cash from an office desk.