Little Havana

THE DISTRICT TODAY

Little Havana is Miami’s most visited neighborhood after South Beach, anchored by Calle Ocho (SW 8th Street), a corridor of restaurants, bars, galleries, cigar shops and cafés. The strip is home to an eclectic mix of institutions and newcomers, from Ball & Chain, Tower Theater, Domino Park and CubaOcho, to Café La Trova, Versailles, Sanguich de Miami, Azucar, Los Pinareños Frutería and the Little Havana Arts Building. The corridor hosts Viernes Culturales every month and the Calle Ocho Music Festival every March, the largest Hispanic street festival in the United States with over one million attendees. In February 2026 the City of Miami passed a resolution to establish a Calle Ocho Business Improvement District, following the Wynwood and Coconut Grove model, to fund security, cleaning, streetscape and marketing along the corridor for up to 10 years.

ON THE HORIZON

More than 1,500 residential units are currently in the pipeline for Little Havana, to be delivered over the next 2-3 years. First, 805 Flagler, an 8-story, 535,000 SF project with over 500 apartments and 5,000 SF of ground-floor grocery/pharmacy retail, recommended for approval by the Urban Development Review Board in February 2026. Second, a 23-story, 166-unit Live Local Act tower at 521-531 SW 7th Street. Third, the City of Miami has handed three city-owned parcels, including the Optica Lopez site on Calle Ocho, to NR Investments, Mabruk USA and Swerdlow Group for roughly 500 workforce, affordable and senior units with ground-floor retail. Also in the pipeline: Related Urban’s 12-story, 135-unit Gallery at Little Havana at 1275 SW 1st Street; Astor’s 8-story, 179-unit Havana Enclave condominium at 315 NW 27th Avenue, delivering end of 2026; and the 79,000 SF Havana River assemblage at 606 W Flagler Street, entailed for 274 units and up to 342 under Live Local.

THE LONG TERM VISION

Over the span of 10-15 years, Little Havana will be transformed by the City of Miami’s proposed upzoning of Little Havana and the Miami River corridor, currently before the Commission, and by Related Group’s redevelopment of the 22-acre Haley Sofge site into 2,417 units (1,038 new) across two 21-story towers and a 12-story building with 22,600 SF of commercial space. The Calle Ocho master plan calls for converting SW 8th Street from a three-lane one-way road back to a two-way street with wider sidewalks, bike and bus lanes and outdoor dining, while Miami-Dade’s Flagler corridor is slated for premium transit, beginning with dedicated bus lanes on Flagler and SW 1st Street from 24th to 6th Avenue. The City’s $5.5M Little Havana Pedestrian Priority Zone (2025-2026) and a planned architectural overlay to protect the neighborhood’s character round out the vision.