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Bal Harbour Village |
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Bal Harbour Village
Geography |
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Bal Harbour Village Demographics |
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Bal Harbour
Village
History |
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Bal Harbour Condos website |
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Bal Harbour's History |
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Celebrating its sixtieth
anniversary in 1996, Bal Harbour Village
remains a pristine community, a
carefully designed haven for the very
best in residential living and upscale
tourism. With elegant homes and
condominiums, elite shops and
exquisitely manicured roadways, the
Village is widely recognized as the
jewel in the crown of South Florida's
communities - a model for the good life.
 The
"dream village" that founder Robert C.
Graham envisioned so many years ago
continues to prosper and thrive today. The
vision for this subtropical paradise began
in 1929 when Miami Beach Heights, a
Detroit-based real estate development
corporation purchased the raw land. Headed
by industrialist Graham with associates Carl
Fisher and Walter O. Briggs, Miami Beach
Heights began the task of crafting a new
community. Perhaps most significantly, they
hired one of the leading urban planning
firms of the twentieth century - Harland
Bartholomew & Associates - to design the
Village. Bal Harbour and Coral Gables are
the only Miami-Dade municipalities that were
built with a fully conceived master plan in
place.
From the beginning, the Village was
envisioned as a modern community that would
maintain exceptionally high standards,
provide superior services and foster civic
pride.
 The
advent of World War II brought plans to an
abrupt halt and Graham, in patriotic
gesture, leased to the land to the United
States Air Corps for $1 a year. The area
became a center of year-round training
complete with barracks and a rifle range
located on the site of the Sheraton Bal
Harbour Beach Resort. A prisoner-of-war
camp, located on the current site of Bal
Harbour Shops, housed German prisoners.
Soldiers stationed up and down Miami Beach
marched north to the area, known as "tent
city," for maneuvers.
After the war ended and the troops
departed, development plans resumed in
earnest. Graham quickly converted some of
the barracks into apartments to boost the
resident population - the State of Florida
then required twenty-five males to qualify
for incorporation..
In 1945, Stanley Whitman (who was later
to Built Bal Harbour Shops) moved into the
barracks with his young family in order to
support the Village's incorporation efforts
and was one of the original founders of Bal
Harbour.
 On
August 14, 1946 the Village was incorporated
and the first Council elected. The roster
for the first Council: Mayor Judge Julian
Southerland and Councilmen Charles R.
Graham, Glenn E. Massnick, Ray Semmes, Jr.,
Willard H. Webb and George Whittaker.
Willard Webb was the first Village Manager
and Mary Wetterer, the first Village Clerk,
remained at her post for more than forty
years.
The Village was first called "Bay
Harbour," a name that was soon discarded as
not properly defining a community with
oceanfront property. A new word was created,
taking letters from 'bay" and "Atlantic" to
create "Bal." Thus Bal Harbour, a new town
encompassing bay and ocean, was named. The
fledgling government was housed in converted
military barracks until the current Village
Hall was built in 1956.
 Bolstered
by Miami's post war prosperity, Bal
Harbour's growth escalated with the rapid
sale of residential lots, the development of
community resources and the construction of
hotels. In December 1946, the first hotel
opened for business - Kenilworth-by-the-Sea.
Described as "ultra-modern," the 160-room
ten-story Kenilworth promoted the concept of
"luxurious leisure." Over the next decade, a
total of nine resorts would line the
Village's beachfront as the Sea View, the
Bal Harbour, the Balmoral, the Ivanhoe, the
Colony, the Singapore, the Beau Rivage and
the Americana all held court. At the height
of South Florida's hotel boom, these
world-class resorts attracted a steady
stream of upscale clientele and helped put
Bal Harbour on the map.
In the 1950's, Bal Harbour and Miami
Beach were considered America's Riviera, a
magnet for the era's top musicians and
entertainers. Count Basie and Guy Lombardo
could be seen having drinks at the Ivanhoe's
Pump Room Lounge. Frank Sinatra and his "Rat
Pack" frequented the Americana's Carnival
Supper Club.
In 1953, Arthur Godfrey brought
considerable media attention to the area
when he was the first entertainer to
televise nationally from our area. He
broadcast to his radio and television
audience, estimated at between 40 and 60
million, from the Kenilworth Hotel. Other
television personalities would follow suit
over the years including Jackie Gleason and
Ed Sullivan.
Bal Harbour's hotels quickly became the
chosen destination for countless
dignitaries, celebrities, and presidents.
Today, celebrating forty years in business,
Bal Harbour Hops is recognized as the
industry leader and, according to Women's
Wear Daily, is the "number one most
productive shopping center in the United
States." Stanley Whitman is now widely
acknowledged as 'the Walt Disney of luxury
retailing,' having created his own magical
kingdom… the ultimate destination for
shoppers. Bal Harbour Shops has become a
role model for developers and continues to
be a key element in defining Bal Harbour
Village's style and elegance.
A major challenge that South Florida has
faced through the years is the erosion of
its beaches through storm and hurricane
damage. The Village Council, realizing the
importance of maintaining beach quality, was
aggressive in exploring and researching
options for restoration projects that were
ahead of their time. Their initiatives were
innovative and many neighboring
municipalities followed this lead.
In 1968 the Council passed a resort tax
initiative (an effort Stanley Whitman is
credited with spearheading). This successful
venture established critical resources for
the Village's multi-million dollar beach
restoration efforts. It provided funds for
maintenance and enhancement of the Village
through the taxation of tourists. As a
result (and at no cost to Bal Harbour
residents), major landscaping and
beautification projects continue to be
carried out and maintained each year.
One example is the $1.5 million Beach Master
Plan of 2002. Without using any ad valorem
tax revenues, it brought the beach area up
to par with the beautiful landscaping
already in place on Collins Avenue.
Extensive landscaping and irrigation were
completed to create a brand new jogging path
(exclusively using only native plants on the
dunes), from the northern end all the way to
the Village's southern tip. The path makes
Bal Harbour's beach truly one-of-a-kind.
As economic and real estate dynamics
shifted, many hotel owners opted to convert
their properties into condominiums. This has
led to a whole new residential landscape for
the Village, continuing to attract newcomers
from all over the world that aspire to live
the Bal Harbour lifestyle.
The new Regent Bal Harbour opens in 2007,
becoming the northern gateway to the
Village. This will be the first new hotel to
be built in the Village in fifty years. As
the Sheraton Bal Harbour celebrates its 50th
anniversary, plans are underway to transform
this landmark into a new St. Regis hotel.
Today, the Village continues its legacy of
superior service. Those hired to manager and
run the Village often remain for decades and
many current staff members have been on
board for more than twenty years.
Bal Harbour has consistently provided an
ideal environment for families. Over the
past 60 years, Bal Harbour's Police
Department has won numerous awards and is
recognized as one of the finest small-city
police departments in the United States.
From the very beginning, Village founders
thoughtfully master-planned this model
community and it has evolved into an
internationally renowned place to live and
visit. As stated by founder Robert Graham
more than sixty years ago, "We have only one
objective. We want to make this village,
with its unusual advantages of ocean and bay
and South Florida climate, a lovely place to
live."
In so many ways, Bal Harbour Village is a
dream come true.
From Bal Harbour
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Bal Harbour
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Bal Harbour Village
Geography
Bal Harbour Village is located at 25°53′35″N
80°7′33″W (25.893005, -80.125729)[3].
According to the United States Census
Bureau, the village has a total area of 1.5
km˛ (0.6 mi˛). 0.9 km˛ (0.3 mi˛) of it is
land and 0.6 km˛ (0.2 mi˛) of it (42.37%) is
water.
Bal Harbour Village Florida is located on the
northern tip of the barrier island commonly
referred to as Miami Beach. The main traffic
corridor running south to north through Bal
Harbour is Collins Avenue, also demarked as
Florida State Highway A1A.
A channel between the north end of Biscayne
Bay and the Atlantic ocean runs across the
northern end of Bal Harbour Village. A bridge,
maintained by the State of Florida connects
Bal Harbour to Haulover Park, to the north.
Haulover Park is maintained by the Miami
Dade Parks Commission.
Bal Harbour Village Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there were 3,305
people, 1,908 households, and 812 families
residing in the village. The population
density was 3,753.1/km˛ (9,791.4/mi˛). There
were 3,150 housing units at an average
density of 3,577.1/km˛ (9,332.2/mi˛). The
racial makeup of the village was 94.46%
White (73.4% were Non-Hispanic White,)[4]
1.63% African American, 0.00% Native
American, 0.82% Asian, 0.09% Pacific
Islander, 1.12% from other races, and 1.88%
from two or more races. 23.00% of the
population are Hispanic or Latino of any
race.
There were 1,908 households out of which
9.2% had children under the age of 18 living
with them, 36.1% were married couples living
together, 4.8% had a female householder with
no husband present, and 57.4% were
non-families. 50.7% of all households were
made up of individuals and 24.9% had someone
living alone who was 65 years of age or
older. The average household size was 1.73
and the average family size was 2.49.
In the village the population was spread out
with 10.2% under the age of 18, 3.7% from 18
to 24, 24.0% from 25 to 44, 24.7% from 45 to
64, and 37.5% who were 65 years of age or
older. The median age was 55 years. For
every 100 females there were 75.8 males. For
every 100 females age 18 and over, there
were 73.6 males.
The median income for a household in the
village was $47,148, and the median income
for a family was $83,570. Males had a median
income of $51,227 versus $44,500 for
females. The per capita income for the
village was $67,680. About 5.6% of families
and 9.2% of the population were below the
poverty line, including 10.5% of those under
age 18 and 6.7% of those age 65 or over.
As of 2000, speakers of English as a first
language accounted for 58.29% of residents,
while Spanish was at 35.13%, Polish at
2.62%, French 2.13%, Portuguese 0.98%, and
Russian made up 0.82% of the population.
Bal Harbour
Village
History
Since the 1920s, the Detroit-based Miami
Beach Heights Corporation (headed by
industrialists Robert C. Graham, Walter O.
Briggs, and C.T. Fisher) owned 245 acres
(0.99 km2) of undeveloped, partially swampy
land that stretched from the bay to the
Atlantic. Mr. Graham assumed the duties as
the developer for Bal Harbour Village. In the 1930s,
city planners Harland Bartholomew &
Associates were called in to design the
Village. The company made several plans and
they were submitted for review to Miami
Beach Heights.
In 1940, World War II began and the plans
were put on hold. As a goodwill gesture to
the government, Robert C. Graham rented the
land to the United States Air Corps for $1
per year. The Air Corps used this land to
train their soldiers and established a
Prisoner of War camp. The ocean front area
was used as a rifle range and the barracks
were set up on the west side of Collins
Avenue. The camp for prisoners was located
where the Bal Harbour Village Shops are presently.
In 1945, the war was over in both Germany
and Japan. The Air Corps left the barracks
buildings as a thank you to the owners of
the property. These barracks were converted
into apartment homes by Mr. Graham in 1946.
In order to incorporate a city in 1946,
there had to be at least 25 male registered
voters residing in the area. Mr. Graham had
twenty five families move into the apartment
homes that he had converted in order to
qualify the Village for incorporation. He
then hired Willard Webb, a Miami Beach tax
assessor, to draft a charter for the
Village. After the charter was completed,
the Village of Bal Harbour Village was incorporated
on August 14, 1946, by Mr. Graham and 25
male registered voters. The Village was
operated under the city manager form of
government.
The Council established a volunteer fire
department.
Swampland was filled, sea walls were
constructed and the yacht basin was created.
Contracts were signed for the sewer systems,
water pumping stations and utilities. Bal
Harbour was the first planned community in
Florida to have its utilities placed
underground. Developers set guidelines for
the development of the beachfront and the
residential areas. Collins Avenue was paved
into four lanes with a landscaped median and
later widened to the present day six lanes.
Village plans indicated that ocean front
property was to be 200 feet (61 m) deep and
lots approached $100,000. Lots in the
residential area were about 1,800 square
feet (170 m2) and cost from $6,500 to
$20,000.
The first hotel was built and was named "The
Kenilworth By-the-Sea." It was built by Tom
Raffington and made famous by Arthur
Godfrey. It has since been demolished and is
now the Kenilworth Condominium. The first
home was built at 160 Bal Cross Drive. It
was built by Mr. Robert C. Graham Jr., who
was the son of Bal Harbour Village Developer Robert
C. Graham. Construction for the Sea View
Hotel was started.
Bal Harbour Village was re-incorporated by a
special act of the 1947 Florida Legislature
and its own charter was issued June 16th.
This new charter supplemented the original
incorporation under the General Laws of
Florida. In accordance with the new charter,
an election to select five to serve on the
Council was held June 30th. The Council
elected were: Edward L. Bonneau, Robert C.
Graham, Jr., Glenn E. Massnick, George
Whittaker, and Judge Julien Southerland.
Judge Southerland was chosen as mayor.
Willard Webb, who had been acting manager
since the first organization, was appointed
as Village Manager. Mary Wetterer was named
Village Clerk and Herold Dickey was
appointed Chief of Police.
In 1947, the Church by the Sea was built.
In 1948, the Beach Club was built. Its
restaurant was operated by Howard Johnson's.
In 1949, a new bridge was started over Baker
Haulover.
In 1956, the current Village Hall was built.
In 1956, the Hotel Americana was built. It
became the Sheraton Hotel in 1980. It was
imploded on November 18, 2007 to Built a set
of condos and a luxury aparthotel as the St.
Regis.
In 1959, Bal Harbour's beach was renovated
due to severe erosion.
In 1965, the Bal Harbour Village Shops was built by
the Whitman family. Stanley Whitman was one
of the incorporators who lived with his
family in the barrack apartments.
In 1971, Bal Harbour's beach started a major
renourishment project
In 2008, The new Regent Bal Harbour opened,
becoming the northern gateway to the
Village.
-From
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia- |
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Bal Harbour Village
Geography |
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Bal Harbour Village Demographics |
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Bal Harbour
Village
History |
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BAL HARBOUR
Village
CONDOS website
OCEANFRONT AND BAYFRONT REAL ESTATE LOCATION |
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See Condos for
Sale and Rent
Bal Harbour Condos website |
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