Spotlight 68-250114 WELL Maya Hatcha

In the Spotlight:

  • Center Grove project on Tigertail to rise 8 stories.
  • Grove’s longest-running retailer relocates to West Grove.
  • 2024 crime report presented.
  • Metrorail station to close for repairs.

THE WELL Coconut Grove, a luxury residential tower, can exceed by three stories the zoning code’s five-story limit because of new rules allowing higher building densities where building occupants are more likely to favor public transportation.

By Jenny Jacoby

A rendering of THE WELL Coconut Grove as an eight-story multi-use residential tower – three stories taller than previous plans for the site. (Courtesy Terra Group).

A high-end real estate project planned for Center Grove will exceed by three stories its allowable height under Miami’s zoning code due to its proximity to the Metrorail station on U.S. 1, city officials say.

THE WELL Coconut Grove will add 194 luxury residential units, 53,000 square feet of “wellness space” and 22,000 square feet of retail, city records show. It replaces the Marriott Residence Inn, now under demolition.

Construction is expected to begin in late 2025 with completion in early 2028.

The project, at the intersection of Tigertail Avenue and Mary Street, falls within a zoning district that limits new construction to five stories.

But a city spokesperson says the developers are taking advantage of a provision added to the zoning code in 2023 that, under certain conditions, allows for higher housing densities near transit hubs as a way of encouraging building occupants to prioritize public transportation options over automobiles.


After 57 years, Coconut Grove’s oldest continually operating retailer is one of the last holdouts from the village’s hippy days.

By Christopher Pearson

Maya Hatcha owner Vivian Jordan at her new storefront location at 3606 Grand Avenue in the West Grove. (David Villano for the Spotlight)

The year 1968 saw the opening of “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown” at the Coconut Grove Playhouse, construction of the Mutiny Hotel and an impromptu concert by The Lovin’ Spoonful at a Grand Avenue bar called The Gaslight.

It was also the year that Guatemala-born sisters Sylvia and Vivian Jordan opened Maya Hatcha, an eclectic boutique selling exotic clothing, jewelry and artwork and which today is the Grove’s oldest continually operating store.

Monthly rent for a 600-square-foot former kitchen in 1968 near the corner of Grand Avenue and Main Highway: $100.

Today, Vivian Jordan is the sole owner and operator of Maya Hatcha, which has moved twice since 2018, most recently to a smaller storefront at 3606 Grand Avenue in the West Grove, where Jordan shares space with Fookem’s Fabulous Key Lime Pies.


Miami Police Commander Daniel Kerr and his staff will present a 2024 crime report for Coconut Grove to the public on Thursday January 16 at Miami City Hall, 3500 Pan American Drive, starting at 6:00 p.m. Overall, crime in Coconut Grove was down 3.6% last year, Kerr told a meeting of the Coconut Grove Ministerial Alliance earlier this month. Although retail theft was up, car break-ins were down 40% and non-retail thefts, like package thefts from front porches, were down 35%, Kerr said. “Overall, crime was down, and we consider it a good year,” Kerr said. “We had to deal with three murders, two of which are still unsolved. They are probably our No. 1 priority, the thing that we are going to continue to investigate.”

Kerr said he intends to share crime data at this week’s forum and then open up the meeting for questions and suggestions. “What I’m going to do is, I’m going to actually open up all the data sources and put them up on the screen so you guys can see what I see every day,” he said. “I want to open that stuff up. I’ll have my analyst there at the meeting with us, and I’ll take any suggestions or bounce any questions. Remember, I am always game for outside-of-the box strategies to combat crime.” Residents can email Kerr at [email protected] with questions and comments.


The Coconut Grove Metrorail Station will close this month, starting Tuesday January 21, for renovations and repairs. The work is expected to take approximately four months, with a scheduled re-opening sometime this spring. In the meantime, Miami-Dade County will run free shuttle buses for transit riders between the Coconut Grove and Douglas Road Metrorail stations. Planned improvements include new elevators and escalators, granite benches and updated restrooms.


An educator and an advocate for youth, Ewing was 90 years old.

Jereline Blacknell Ewing, a distinguished educator whose career spanned continents and inspired countless colleagues and students, died peacefully on December 17 at her home in Coconut Grove. She was 90.


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