This Kennedy-era Winn-Dixie in Miami is being torn down. Here’s what’s coming to the site

Howard Cohen
·3 min read
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A Winn-Dixie building that has stood in a South Miami neighborhood since President John F. Kennedy was in the White House is being torn down.

The grocery store building at 5850 SW 73rd St., near some residential complexes, and across the street from the Deli Lane Cafe and Sunset Tavern and the recently closed Bonaparte Hair Designers, was built in 1962.

“While we understand that this closure impacts the local community, we want to assure you this decision was not made lightly,” Jacksonville-based parent company Southeastern Grocers said in a statement sent to the Miami Herald on Friday. “All store associates who wished to continue employment with Winn-Dixie were offered positions at nearby locations.”

What’s moving onto the Winn-Dixie property?

The Winn-Dixie at 5850 SW 73rd St. in South Miami was being torn down on July 21, 2023, to make way for a proposed apartment complex. The grocery store was in the neighborhood since 1962.
The Winn-Dixie at 5850 SW 73rd St. in South Miami was being torn down on July 21, 2023, to make way for a proposed apartment complex. The grocery store was in the neighborhood since 1962.

According to Miami-Dade property records, the Winn-Dixie property and 81,200-square-foot lot in downtown South Miami was acquired by apartment developer Avalon SoMi LLC/AvalonBay Communities for $18.59 million in November 2020.

PROFILEmiami, a real estate website, and property records, reported that the seller was a joint venture between entities tied to the Bacardi family and Alta Development, led by Henry Pino, who had acquired the property in July 2007 for $14.5 million.

The owners secured approval from the South Miami City Commission in the summer of 2020 to build an apartment project on the site, not far from the Shops at Sunset Place and the South Miami Metrorail Station.

According to The Real Deal, the nine-story mixed-use project on the 1.9 acre site “would include 36,395 square feet of commercial space for a grocery store, 283 apartments and a roughly 400-space parking garage. Corwil Architects designed the plans. The building would include a pool deck and about 8,000 square feet of indoor amenities.”

Southeastern Grocers would not provide further details on whether that proposed grocery store in the coming mixed-use venture would be a new Winn-Dixie.

The Winn-Dixie at 5850 SW 73rd St. in South Miami was being torn down on July 21, 2023, to make way for a proposed apartment complex. The grocery store was in the neighborhood since 1962.
The Winn-Dixie at 5850 SW 73rd St. in South Miami was being torn down on July 21, 2023, to make way for a proposed apartment complex. The grocery store was in the neighborhood since 1962.

Demolition reaction

Customers and former employees of the shuttered South Miami Winn-Dixie posted on a Facebook group their memories of the locale.

▪ “End of an era,” read Branford Lloyd’s lead post on the Facebook group, Flashback South Florida — Memories and Memorabilia.

▪ “Back when we lived there, that was THE PLACE to get meat. Prices were much cheaper than Publix,” wrote Don Moser.

▪ “I worked there in 1977 — powder blue uniforms with white shoes. We had to punch in the information on each item. Fun times!” wrote Carole Atkins-Larkin.

▪ “Worked there from ‘94 to 2010. Made it to manager of seafood. Dumped my heart and soul into that place,” wrote Jason Robertson.

▪ “I worked there late ‘60s,” wrote Bob Buzzelli.

▪ “Lots of beautiful memories, I remember I used go here with my mother as a young boy,” posted Capone n Noreaga.

A restored Winn-Dixie

Meantime, another older Winn-Dixie store that had been closed for a year for repairs at Sunset West Shopping Center at 8710 SW 72nd Ave. in Kendall-area Miami, reopened on July 12 with a refurbished design and several days of celebrations.

What about the South Miami hair salon?

Bonaparte Hair Designers at 5893 SW 73rd St. in a South Miami strip mall across the street from the popular Deli Lane Cafe and Sunset Tavern was a mainstay for decades in the neighborhood. The owner retired earlier in 2023 and a sign in the window on July 21, 2023, indicated a Sunset Liquors is coming soon.
Bonaparte Hair Designers at 5893 SW 73rd St. in a South Miami strip mall across the street from the popular Deli Lane Cafe and Sunset Tavern was a mainstay for decades in the neighborhood. The owner retired earlier in 2023 and a sign in the window on July 21, 2023, indicated a Sunset Liquors is coming soon.

As for the Bonaparte Hair Designers at 5893 SW 73rd St. across the street from the coming South Miami apartment complex, the salon, a neighborhood fixture for decades, closed earlier this year when its owner retired. A sign in the window Friday announced that a Sunset Liquors was coming soon to the place.