Esmeralda Hotel on Biscayne Boulevard

The story of the Esmeralda Hotel on the corner of NE Fifth Street and Biscayne Boulevard, which opened in 1917, and the buildings that came after the demolition of this structure in 1961.

Cover: The Esmeralda Hotel in 1917. Courtesy of Larry Wiggins.

By the middle decade of the 1910s, it became very clear to city leaders and developers that the supply of apartment houses and hotel rooms were not keeping up with the demand of those planning to travel or relocate to the Magic City. The city of Miami was founded slightly more than twenty years earlier, but given its allure, it began to experience a housing glut by 1917. By the end of the decade of the 1910s, Miami would be declared the fastest growing city in America, but that growth did present housing challenges for the newly arriving residents and visitors to the city.

The United States was embroiled in World War I by April of 1917 which led to a scarcity of materials for new construction, and further exacerbated the housing shortage. Despite there being a nationwide rationing order for a variety of supplies needed to support the war effort, such as key building materials like wood and steel, there were nineteen new apartment houses and hotels under construction around Miami during the summer of that year. One of those new hotels being constructed was a project financed by the Dade Investment Company which opened in November 1917 called the Esmeralda Hotel.

Dade Investment Company

Figure 1: Sanborn Map indicating the location of the Esmeralda Hotel in downtown Miami. Courtesy of UF Archives.

The Dade Investment Company was comprised of three prominent early Miamians. William S. Witham, who was often referred to as “Uncle Billy” by many winter visitors and pioneer Miami residents, was a bank executive from Atlanta, Georgia, who had a winter home in Miami. Reverend Luther T. Townsend was a Methodist minister and a professor at Boston University, who also was owned property in Miami where he and his wife spent their winters. The third principal in the investment group was L.K. Beach, who assumed responsibility for managing the hotel that the partners would erect along the boulevard in downtown Miami.

The group was formed primarily as a real estate investment team focused on acquiring land to build new multi-family apartment houses and hotels. The parcel of land that was acquired at the corner of Seventh Street and the Boulevard, or today’s NE Fifth Street and Biscayne Boulevard, consisted of three single-family residences that were moved off the property to another location in the city to make room for what the partners would eventually call the ‘Esmeralda Hotel.’

Work began relocating what were referred to as “cottages” on April 14^th, following by the clearing and breaking of ground for the hotel by the onset of the summer. The Miami Metropolis mentioned that the plans had been prepared, and the contract let to begin construction shortly after the relocation of the three structures off the property.

Construction Began in June

Figure 2: Esmeralda Hotel in 1928.

When the Esmeralda hotel, referred to as the Bay-Vu Hotel at that point, was featured in the Miami Metropolis on June 7, 1917, where it was described as a handsome structure featuring Spanish architecture. Although the article did not reveal who the architect of the building was, it did specify that it would be constructed by the Heifner Construction Company. The four-story hotel was built entirely of reinforced concrete, with a white stucco finish and tile roof. The Metropolis writer went on to accentuate that the building was “as near fire proof as modern builders can make it,” providing future guests the piece of mind that the building was modern and safe.

The upper floors were designed to receive as much of the easterly bay breeze as the winter trade winds could muster, and the ground story would be occupied by offices, the lobby, and parlors for the guests. The cost for construction, equipment and furnishings for the hotel was $50,000.

Given that the structure was constructed on the bay shore, the operators of the inn made it clear to prospective guests that they could arrive by yacht where they could moor their cruiser at the docks across the street from the hotel. The location was optimal for bay breezes at night and provided a fire-proof parking garage for guests who arrived by car. The completion of the hotel was originally scheduled for October, but opened just prior to the start of the winter season in Miami.