Last December, GroveHouseArtists ended its monthly ArtWalk on Fuller Street. For a while, the one-block pedestrian stretch in Center Grove had filled with easels, musicians and artist booths on ArtWalk afternoons. The group stopped because there was no longer room for them. In a Facebook post quoted by the Coconut Grove Spotlight, organizers said Fuller "has developed into an outside cafe lane and offers no possibilities for a cohesive stroll through the artists and artisans."
Fuller was a narrow traffic lane with curbside parking until it closed to cars about five years ago. Since then it has served as Center Grove's informal town square. What happens to it next is being decided in small, unglamorous pieces this fall: café permits, barricades, planters, light fixtures. The $5 million stone-paver redesign scheduled for 2027 is designed around the way the street is used now, so the arrangements in place by then are likely to carry over.
The Tables Sit on Public Land
The tables lining Fuller sit in the public right-of-way, and the City of Miami's rules for them are more specific than most people walking by would guess. The Spotlight's August reporting quoted city code: a permitted sidewalk or street café "shall be opened for use by the general public," and its use "shall not be restricted to patrons of the permittee." The code also requires permitted tables to stay where an approved site plan puts them, and a street café permit belongs to the holder and can't be transferred.
How much of the block the tables actually cover is visible in the city's own records. In August, the Spotlight reported two valid outdoor-seating permits on Fuller, one tied to Barracuda Taphouse & Grill and one for Grove Grocer at 3098 Fuller St. The Grove Grocer permit allows 16 tables and 32 chairs on 270 square feet of right-of-way. Across the street, the seating outside Ziggurat x Chèvre at 3065 Fuller St. got its permit on Aug. 14, after an $8,680 payment completed the application.
The amount of floor space matters because of the city's revenue split. Café-permit fees are divided evenly between the City of Miami and the Coconut Grove Business Improvement District. The BID also programs events on the street and signs off on its design. Every table that goes on Fuller helps pay for the organization that decides how the rest of the block gets used.
What the BID Is Installing This Fall
The street's current layout is being made permanent ahead of the redesign. On Oct. 20, the BID announced that crews were installing year-round streetscape lighting along Commodore Plaza, Main Highway, and parts of Grand Avenue and Fuller Street. The goal was to have it lit for the holiday season and keep it on into the new year. The same update noted new barricades at both ends of Fuller and new 3x10 planters. Over on Commodore Plaza, the flower beds are being replanted with Green Island Ficus, a compact shrub the BID picked because it handles heat, salt air and drought.
Permanent barricades formalize the closure that has been in place for five years. Fixed lighting and large planters also define where people can walk and where the tables can go.
The block is still being used as an event space. This year's Coconut Grove Harvest set up its pumpkin patch on Fuller from Oct. 23 through Nov. 1, with a Halloween celebration on the street Oct. 31 from 6 to 8 p.m. Last year's tree lighting was held Nov. 30, 2025. No date has been announced for a 2026 Fuller Street lighting.
The 2027 Redesign Keeps the Café Layout
The Miami City Commission approved the final designs for Fuller Street and neighboring Kirk Munroe Park on June 25. Miami Today reported the budget at $5 million: $3 million from the city's capital plan and $2 million from Allen Morris Company, the developer of the adjacent Ziggurat project. The BID gave its required approval for the Fuller Street portion in July.
Here is what the redesign does to the street, as presented to residents in May:
| Element | Today | After the redesign |
|---|---|---|
| Street surface | Asphalt roadway, closed to traffic | Raised to sidewalk level, paved with porphyry stone pavers |
| Trees | Existing trees, some judged to be in poor condition | A specimen chestnut, a rainbow eucalyptus and mahogany trees in planters |
| Extent | One pedestrian block | Main Highway to Grand Avenue, with drainage and road reconstruction |
| Outdoor seating | Permitted café tables in the right-of-way | City officials say seating remains a key part of the street |
The design team's own description of its approach was restraint. "What we've been told is Fuller Street is great, it functions, don't overdo it. So, we tried to simplify the plan," a project representative said at the May meeting, according to the Spotlight. A simple plan keeps the café layout largely as it is now. Raising the roadway to curb height removes the last physical line between sidewalk and street. That gives restaurant seating and public seating one continuous surface to share, with the city's permit rules as the only thing marking out who gets which part.
Kirk Munroe Park gets most of the new features: resurfaced and fenced tennis courts, a rebuilt hitting wall, a children's play area, a pavilion, a great lawn, water features, and wood decking beneath the park's banyan tree. Allen Morris will manage construction and has said it expects to begin next summer. The company is responsible for any costs above the $5 million budget. The Spotlight describes summer 2027 as a tentative start.
Ziggurat Will Open Onto the Street It Helped Fund
The redesigned Fuller will lead directly into Ziggurat, Allen Morris's five-story mixed-use project at 3101 Grand Ave., at the western end of the street. According to a July 30 update in Profile Miami, demolition was complete, the site was cleared for vertical construction, and completion was projected for early 2028. That update describes office space, residences, about 45,000 square feet of retail, and a rooftop restaurant and lounge from a local Michelin-starred chef who hasn't been named. The Spotlight has reported that the condominiums will be priced at upwards of $8 million.
Ziggurat already has a storefront on the block. Chèvre, a cheese-and-sandwich shop, opened at 3065 Fuller St. in January and runs out of the Ziggurat sales center under contract with Allen Morris. The construction calendar lines up closely. If both schedules hold, the street work starts in summer 2027 and the building opens in early 2028, so the finished Fuller and the building's ground-floor retail would arrive within months of each other.
Here is the block's timeline, from the end of the ArtWalk to Ziggurat's projected opening:
- December 2025: GroveHouseArtists ends its monthly ArtWalk on Fuller.
- January 2026: Chèvre opens at 3065 Fuller St.
- June 25: The City Commission approves the Fuller Street and Kirk Munroe Park designs.
- July: The BID approves the Fuller Street improvements.
- July 30: Demolition at the Ziggurat site is complete.
- Aug. 14: The outdoor-seating permit for 3065 Fuller St. is issued.
- Oct. 20: The BID announces year-round lighting, barricades and planters.
- Summer 2027: Tentative start of the street and park construction.
- Early 2028: Projected completion of Ziggurat.
McFarlane Road Brings More Foot Traffic to the Block
Foot traffic on the next street over is growing too. Miami Slice opened its Coconut Grove location at 2996 McFarlane Road on Aug. 12, and Miami New Times reported a line out the door from opening day. The paper called it a spacious flagship, with a slice bar, a wood-fired oven and dishes served only at this location. Across the street at 2979 McFarlane, Levain Bakery's Coconut Grove shop is still listed as "Coming Soon" on the bakery's location page. In September, Miami New Times listed it as Levain's Florida debut, expected this fall.
A popular counter and a bakery people are waiting for, both within a block of Fuller, mean more people walking through Center Grove looking for a place to sit. Under the city rules the Spotlight cited, permitted seating in Fuller's right-of-way is open to anyone who wants a chair, whether or not they bought anything at the business that holds the permit. This post describes the city's café-seating rules as reported and isn't legal advice. The City of Miami can confirm how a specific permit applies.
Owners near Center Grove who want to know how the Fuller Street redesign and Ziggurat's 2028 opening could affect their own property can talk it through with Katerina Bucciarelli and the Innovatio Realty Group team. Schedule a private Real Estate Strategy Session.
