In Miami, A Greenway May Rise From Developers Vision

As a developer turned bicycle activist, Brad Knoefler is trying to bring an urban greenway to one of Miami's most blighted neighborhoods. However, a myriad of red tape remains to be cut.

1 minute read

April 23, 2009, 10:00 AM PDT

By Mike Lydon


"Along a two-mile stretch of railroad track in Miami, one 100-foot slice sparkles with clean rails, shiny rocks, agave plants and new white fencing.

Beyond that tidy patch of tidiness, to either side, lay signs of inner-city decay: stacks of rubble, tin and plastic cans, twisted piping, needles, sleeping vagrants.

Property owner Brad Knoefler, who took a leap of faith eight years ago by spending $1.2 million to turn a decaying Overtown warehouse into a stunning Soho-type building of lofts along the tracks , helped spiff up the shiny stretch.

Now, working with fellow property owners and developers, Knoefler is pressing myriad government agencies for $1.3 million to create a greenway along the larger rail corridor that knifes through a historic but bedraggled stretch of Miami."

Tuesday, April 21, 2009 in Miami Herald

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