Miami Beach aims to bolster its economy this year by attracting new businesses to the city and hosting major events. Mayor Steven Meiner said there’s “a lot of activity” happening in the city and the results are reflected in the numbers. “A lot of good things are happening and we’re seeing the results already,” he said. “Our resort sales tax was up in December year-over-year 7% … New Year’s Eve, our hotel room rate was number one in the world…” In addition, he said, businesses have shown interest in moving to Miami Beach. “You’re seeing a lot of interest from businesses to move here and also to expand here and renovate and put in capital to work here in Miami Beach,” Mr. Meiner said. The types of businesses looking to set up in Miami Beach range from restaurants to family offices to hedge funds and venture capital funds opening new office space. “It shows the diversity of our economy,” he said, “but certainly we’re still a major tourist attraction and we’re doing extremely well on that front and we’re busy. We’re a very busy city.” Steven Anthony, Miami Beach’s economic development director, noted that the city’s approach is twofold and the commercial corridors play a key role. “There’s been some great activity that’s certainly been happening along Lincoln Road, with new businesses that have been moving into the area,” Mr. Anthony said. “Certainly some of the new work that’s happening, pedestrianization, some of the capital projects that have happened along Lincoln Road to really improve infrastructure, but ultimately the goal is how do we continue to expand and build on our commercial corridors, whether that’s Lincoln Road, whether that’s Washington Avenue, certainly Ocean Drive, Collins Avenue, 41st Street are some of the areas that there’s a really strong focus by putting strategies on how to effectively bring a mix tenants and making sure that folks have what they need in order to continue to build in Miami Beach.” Events can attract businesses and ultimately help form connections that benefit Miami Beach’s economy. “Our relationship with the Greater Miami Convention Visitors Bureau is leaning into maybe making sure that we’re attracting those certain types of conferences and conventions here utilizing this great asset that we have in the convention center, but specializing in making sure that we’re attracting those types of events so that we can attract those types of businesses, so we get leaders here for those various types of conventions, right?” Mr. Anthony said. “The idea here is that we’re connecting with those folks … how do we leverage those conventions that are specializing in those industries and connecting with those leaders so that we can attract those businesses specifically to Miami Beach? So that’s certainly one of the ways that there’s a strong focus for us in that regard.” He also said that the city’s Make a Bold Move campaign, which was initially launched in 2022, will be relaunched in the spring. “We have a campaign that really focuses on attracting businesses moving here,” Mr. Anthony said. “It’s our Make a Bold Move that’s relaunching this spring, so there’s this reemphasis for us to make sure that we’re creating greater awareness on how important or how much the city truly has to offer on being able to attract businesses, and the goal is to make it not only so folks understand what we have to offer as a city but also how we make that process easier for businesses and make it as smooth as possible. “There’s really been a lot of effort within the city, within economic development specifically, to make sure that we can make that process as easy as possible, and my department stands ready to certainly assist businesses each step of the way,” Mr. Anthony said. The second piece, he said, is “carrying the momentum that’s happening within North Beach” given ongoing projects in the area and doing so “in a way that’s still beneficial to the surrounding residents” is another priority. One market trend Mr. Anthony has noticed is flight-to-quality, where investors move toward safer investments during periods of high economic uncertainty. People, he said, “want quality experiences.” “Even when you think of the various places that you can do that across the U.S., that’s where Miami Beach still stands out,” he said. “Even if there’s a general slowdown across the country and so forth where people are evaluating how to better utilize their money in a potentially tightening economy, we look at a place like Miami Beach where folks are getting value for what they’re spending.” The post Miami Beach finds a path to lure new businesses appeared first on Miami Today. ...read more read less