Bal Harbour Florida real estate is located on the northern tip of the barrier island known as Miami Beach.  With a population of about 3,500, Bal Harbour features quite a selection of Miami real estate and beachfront homes.  Many an interesting tale can be told about the Village of Bal Harbour and its Miami FL homes. 

Headed by industrialists Robert C. Graham, Walter O. Briggs, and C.T. Fisher, in the early 1940s the Detroit-based Miami Beach Heights Corporation owned 245 acres of partially swampy undeveloped land in Florida.  The parcel stretched from Biscayne Bay to the Atlantic Ocean.  Graham became the developer of the Miami Florida real estate and hired Harland Bartholomew & Associates to design a village. 

Although plans were submitted for review to Miami Beach Heights, they had to be put on hold because of World War II.  Graham rented the land to the U.S. Air Corps for $1 per year.  The Air Corps put in a rifle range on the oceanfront side and barracks for prisoners of war on the west side of Collins Avenue.  Collins Avenue is the main traffic corridor running south to north through Bal Harbour (Florida State Highway A1A).

After the war ended in 1945, the Air Corps left the barracks to the owners of the property as a thank you.  In order to qualify the village for incorporation, Graham converted the barracks into apartment homes and moved in 25 male registered voters and their families.  A local tax assessor was hired to draft a charter.  And discussion ensured to name the village.  Bay Harbour was changed to 'Bal' Harbour, signifying a city that ran from the bay to the Atlantic Ocean.  B-A-L.  The 'B' was taken from the word 'bay' and the 'A' and 'L' came from the word 'Atlantic.' 

The village of Bal Harbour was incorporated on August 14, 1946 to be operated under the city manager form of government.  As the project proceeded, Bal Harbour became the first planned community in the state to place its utilities underground.  By a special act of the 1947 state legislature, the Village was re-incorporated on June 16, 1947 and a new charter drawn up that called for an election of five to serve on a Council.

Developers set building guidelines and platted out ocean front property (200 feet deep for $100,000) and residential lots (1,800 square feet for $6,500 to $20,000).  With ten years, construction projects included the first home built by Graham’s son on Bal Cross Drive; the first few hotels, The Kenilworth By-the-Sea, Seaview Hotel, and Hotel Americana; the Church by the Sea, the Beach Club with Howard Johnson’s Restaurant, a new bridge over Baker Haulover; and the current Village Hall.  Hotel Americana became a Sheraton in 1980 and is now the St. Regis luxury aparthotel. 

In 1965, Bal Harbour Shops was built by the Stanley Whitman family, one of the original families, at the site of the former barracks.  In 2008, graced by white sand beaches and turquoise waters down the avenue from the famous Bal Harbour Shops, The Regent Bal Harbour Hotel opened as 'a spectacular retreat for all the senses.'  And there is a new chapter in the book.

For more information about real estate in the area, contact us.