A gargantuan retail complex is planned for the site of Miami’s iconic Power Studios, where Emilio Estefan produced his first music video and where photographer Bruce Weber shot the late fashion designer Gianni Versace’s last catalogue, the Daily Business Review reported.
The Design District two-story building, purchased by sculptor Ross Power for $90,000 and opened as Power Studios in 1989, was sold for $8 million to a partnership led by Chariff Realty Group, which plans to use the quarter-acre property for 19,000 square feet of retail space, the latest project to convert the outpost for furniture showrooms and art galleries into a luxury retail hub.
“We see it as the gateway entrance to the district,” Lyle Chariff, the real estate group’s president, told the Review, adding that his company remains in “buy mode” for undervalued Design District-area properties.
The Power Studios building, erected in 1925, boasts a production studio and cinema; a restaurant and outdoor patio and a nightclub with plenty of space on the dance floor. [Daily Business Review] –Emily Schmall