How a barrier island transformed from a motel strip into a high-rise skyline
In short: Once a collection of themed motels known as Motel Row, Sunny Isles Beach has evolved into one of the most densely populated cities in the United States. This narrow barrier island in Florida now features a towering skyline, replacing its mid-century tourist past with luxury high-rise condominiums and hotels.
The area now known as Sunny Isles Beach began its development in 1920 when investor Harvey Baker Graves purchased over two square miles of land to create a tourist resort. Accessibility improved significantly in 1925 with the completion of the Haulover bridge, which allowed developers to reshape the landscape by digging canals and creating new peninsulas. By the 1950s and 1960s, the city became famous for its themed motels lining Collins Avenue. This era included the Ocean Palm, which opened in 1948 as the first two-story motel in the country, serving as a major economic catalyst for the region for decades.
The city's character shifted dramatically during the real estate boom of the early 2000s. Following the 1997 incorporation of the municipality, developers began replacing the historic, low-rise motels with massive high-rise residential towers. This rapid vertical growth has resulted in a skyline that ranks as the 14th tallest in the United States. Today, the city is a densely packed urban environment, with the 2020 census recording over 22,000 residents living within a total area of less than two square miles, nearly half of which is water.
Beyond its architecture, the city maintains a unique cultural identity. As of 2000, the population was linguistically diverse, with significant numbers of residents speaking Spanish, Russian, French, and Yiddish. The city also prioritizes local infrastructure, such as the Norman S. Edelcup/Sunny Isles Beach K–8 school, which features modern technology and views of the Atlantic Ocean and the Intracoastal Waterway. While the historic Sunny Isles Pier, originally built in the 1930s, suffered severe damage during Hurricane Wilma in 2005, it was eventually restored and reopened in 2013 as the Newport Fishing Pier, preserving a connection to the city's earlier days.
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Sources
- Summary by Intellect · source: Sunny Isles Beach, Florida
- Also: Wikidata — Sunny Isles Beach · CC0
- Also: Wikidata — Sunny Isles Beach, Florida · CC0
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