Fuller Street is one block long. About five years ago it stopped carrying traffic and became the nearest thing Center Grove has to a town square, a place to sit without buying anything. In 2026, café tables took up more and more of that space. A $5 million redesign approved this summer will soon pave the block in stone. How much of the street stays free to use depends on the café permits the city grants and enforces before then.
The ArtWalk Left First
Until late last year, GroveHouseArtists held a monthly ArtWalk on the block, with painters, musicians and artisans' booths set up along the promenade. In December, the group ended it. The Coconut Grove Spotlight reported the reason the organizers gave on Facebook:
"Fuller Street has developed into an outside cafe lane and offers no possibilities for a cohesive stroll through the artists and artisans."
GroveHouseArtists Director Trina Collins told the Spotlight that Fuller "seemed like a perfect place for getting more art showcased in Coconut Grove," and that "all of a sudden, everything has gotten so commercial that there really was no room." The paper called the ArtWalk's end possibly the first casualty of the street's shift from a narrow traffic lane with curbside parking, to a de facto town square, and now more and more to commercial space for the bars and restaurants along it.
The café seating did not have to keep anyone out to end the event. It only had to fill the floor space a monthly market needs.
What the City Rule Says About Those Tables
In Miami, restaurants and other food businesses can get permits to put tables and chairs in the public right of way. The permit does not give the business exclusive control. Under the 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," as the Spotlight's August reporting laid out.
That rule is why the seating on Fuller still counts as public space. A permitted table on the block is, by rule, a public seat that happens to sit next to a business.
Permits also set limits. Tables have to stay where an approved site plan shows them, and a street-café permit belongs to its holder and cannot be transferred.
This is general information about a city rule as it was reported, not legal advice. Anyone with a question about how it applies to them should check with the City of Miami or the right professional.
The Permit Ledger for One Block, as of August 2026
The block's permit records show how much of the street has been formally handed over to seating. Here is what the Spotlight reported from city records in mid-August:
| Business | Location | Seating status reported in August 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Grove Grocer | 3098 Fuller St. | Valid permit, issued under Alto Consulting LLC, for 16 tables and 32 chairs on 270 square feet of right of way |
| Barracuda Taphouse & Grill | Fuller Street | Valid permit on file |
| Ziggurat x Chèvre | 3065 Fuller St. | Permit approved and issued Aug. 14, 2026 |
The figure of 270 square feet for 16 tables is the best available measure of what one permit takes up on a narrow pedestrian street. Multiply it across a row of storefronts and it becomes clear how a monthly art market ran out of room.
Chèvre, the gourmet sandwich shop, opened early this year in the Ziggurat sales center at the western end of the block. Miami New Times reported it open on January 27, 2026. Its outdoor seating permit came through in mid-August. City officials said that as of Aug. 11 the application had been approved but was waiting on an $8,680 payment, and the permit was issued three days later. The Spotlight's coverage also raised questions about whether all the seating along the block was covered by permits. The people pressing those questions are asking the same thing as the ArtWalk organizers: how much of the street will stay common ground once its new form is built.
The Redesign Will Pave Around Whatever Is There
The Miami City Commission approved final designs for Fuller Street and nearby Kirk Munroe Park in June. The project costs $5 million. The city put in $3 million, and Allen Morris Company, the Coral Gables developer building Ziggurat, agreed to contribute $2 million, manage construction and cover any cost overruns.
Here is what the plan changes on each site:
- Fuller Street: the old roadway is raised to sidewalk level, the asphalt is replaced with stone pavers, and new trees and landscaping are added.
- Kirk Munroe Park, on Matilda Street: a new pavilion, a children's playground and a great lawn. Renderings also show five refurbished tennis courts along Oak Avenue.
City officials have said outdoor seating will remain a key part of Fuller Street after the redesign. A level, paved street with no curb makes room for more tables, and also for more of anything else. Which way it goes depends on how permits are issued and enforced. Coconut Grove Village Council member Davey Frankel, who lives in South Grove, told the Spotlight in March: "There should be a balance that includes public use of the street, and not just turning it into a giant, broad sidewalk with outdoor café seating."
The schedule is still loose. Allen Morris has said it expects to break ground next summer, and the city calls that timeline tentative. Reports from August disagree on one approval. The Spotlight wrote that the Coconut Grove Business Improvement District approved the Fuller Street improvements in July. Miami Today, writing a few days earlier, described final BID approval as still pending.
Next door, Ziggurat is moving faster. In late July, Allen Morris announced that demolition was complete at the former Coconut Grove Laundry & Cleaners site at Grand Avenue and Matilda Street, with site work and vertical construction next. The plan is a five-story building with offices and luxury condos, and the Spotlight reported condo prices upward of $8 million. The redesigned street will be the front door to that building.
Commodore Plaza Shows the Storefront Side of the Same Shift
Two blocks away, the village center's storefronts are changing as well. LoKal, the burger and local-beer spot at 3190 Commodore Plaza, announced it would close after summer 2026, ending a run of more than 15 years. According to Coconut Grove Magazine, La La Land Kind Cafe is now under construction in the space. It will be the chain's first Miami-area café, and no opening date had been announced as of mid-October. Around the corner, Miami Slice opened its Coconut Grove flagship on August 12 in the historic Engle Building next to Mr. C.
Storefronts turn over through private leases. Fuller Street's seating is public, and it is governed by a rule that keeps it open to everyone. That is why the permits on this one block matter more than any single opening around it. As the businesses change, the street is the part of the village center that anyone can still use without paying.
Using the Block, and the Grove, This November
Before the paving starts, the Grove's calendar offers a few ways to spend time outdoors without a reservation:
- Sit on Fuller. Permitted tables in the right of way are open to the general public under city code, whether or not you buy anything.
- Friday, November 13, 7 p.m. The 18 Wheelers play a Moonlight Concert at The Barnacle Historic State Park.
- Saturday, November 14, 11 a.m. Holiday Barkzaar is at The Barnacle.
- November 13 and 14. The Coconut Grove Jewelry & Watch Show takes over The Hangar at Regatta Harbour.
- November 20 through 22. COUTURE Coconut Grove is at The Hangar at Regatta Harbour.
Center Grove is about to get a redesigned street, a new park pavilion and a five-story building at its western edge. If you would like to understand how the Ziggurat project and the Fuller Street work could affect your corner of the village, Mariela Hopen follows the Grove's development timeline closely and will gladly walk you through the public plans and schedule in a private conversation.
