October is the month Miami stops pretending it is still summer. Stone crab season opens, Joe’s turns the lights back on, and the calendar fills up in a hurry. This month: a closer look at South of Fifth, a Brickell tower that runs partly on sunlight, and what is worth eating and doing before Halloween.

South of Fifth,
up close.

A handful of blocks at the southern tip of the island, and the quietest corner of Miami Beach by a wide margin. Continuum, Apogee, One Ocean, and Ocean House sit on the sand, and from any of them you can walk to Joe’s, Carbone, Milos, and Forte dei Marmi.

It is the rare Miami neighborhood where people actually stay put once they land, which is exactly why so little comes up for sale and why the few things that do tend to move quickly.

I put together a full breakdown of the buildings, the streets, and what actually trades down there.

Explore South of Fifth →

1428 Brickell
runs on sunlight.

189 residences in a 70-story tower rising 860 feet over Biscayne Bay, and the first residential high-rise in the world partially powered by a solar backbone. More than 500 photovoltaic glass panels run across the west facade, generating over 20,000 square feet of clean energy.

Developed by Ytech, with architecture by Arquitectonica and interiors by Antonio Citterio Patricia Viel. Italian marble counters, Arclinea and Vaselli cabinetry made in Italy, a full Gaggenau suite, and free-standing tubs carved in Rapolano. Ceilings run from 11 to 30 feet in select homes, and every residence faces the bay.

80,000 square feet of amenities for 189 homes, which is the number that actually matters. A two-story Owners Club on 67 with private dining and office suites, an entire wellness floor on 66 with a 10,000 square foot spa and golf simulator, and a rooftop observatory pool at 850 feet. From $1.8 million in Brickell.

See the full development profile →

Stone crab
is back.

Stone crab season opens October 15 and runs through May 1. Joe’s reopens on the 16th, which after a summer without it counts as a holiday in this part of town. They take reservations now, but the bar is still the move if you would rather not plan three weeks ahead.

Bar Shishi,
behind the lion.

Twelve seats on the third floor of RIVANI at 1691 Michigan Avenue, which is to say a few hundred feet from my office. It opened in late September and there is no sign, just a guardian lion at the door.

It comes from the h.wood Group, the Los Angeles outfit behind Delilah and The Nice Guy, in partnership with Robert Rivani inside his $125 million redevelopment of the building. The bar program is run by Kevin Lee, a certified Japanese ice master, which in practice means hand-carved diamond ice, kakigori, and a level of fuss over a drink that Miami does not often see. Hamachi crudo, wagyu katsu, and caviar on the food side. More than a hundred records behind a custom vinyl booth.

It runs as a private RIVANI amenity on weekdays from noon to five, then opens to everyone Wednesday through Saturday from seven. Walk-ins are welcome, but there are twelve seats, so early is the only strategy.