Godfather Too

Prominent among the forward-thinking risk-takers that have meant and made so much in the recent history of South Beach is Michael Comras, a native New Yorker who came here to seek his future in the early 1990s. Comras has been a major force behind the development and marketing of the explosively successful Lincoln Road experiment.

Many of the retail and office spaces that now fill the Deco buildings of South Beach are there because of Comras’ vision and successful entrepreneurship. His well-received “Lincoln Place” office building at the corner of Washington Avenue and 16th Street is though by many to herald a new generation of quality commercial architecture for the Deco District.

He has also headed up a public-private partnership to capitalize on the revitalized Lincoln Road, where cafés full of happy diners (and drinkers, of course) now line the length of what used to be a forlorn strip of “once-upon-a-time” pedestrian mall. Many of America’s favorites stores are housed in Comras’ South Beach buildings. The Gap, Ralph Lauren, Sephora, and The Pottery Barn are just a few that rent space from Michael.

But the serious business side of Michael Comras is, as with so many South Beach faces, only part of the story. He knows why he is here: “The weather and quality of life;” he knows the beauty of the Deco-lined beaches: “…they have beautiful sand and colors;” and he knows what matters most to so many South Beach residents: “Freedom.”

But his serious business side comes out again when the stakes get high: If he had only $100 to spend, he’d spend it partying, with “4 drinks at Nobu [Restaurant in the Shore Club Hotel].” And with unlimited money? Why, that would go into buying as much additional South Beach property as possible.