Flagler Station

History of Downtown Miami’s Flagler Station Mall

Flagler Station was an indoor shopping mall located on East Flagler Street in Downtown Miami, positioned between the former Morris Brothers department store and an Art Deco-style former Woolworth’s. Originally built in 1927 as the Venetian Arcade Building, it was later renovated and occupied by S. H. Kress & Company. In the 1980s, the building underwent significant renovations again, which transformed it into what became known as Flagler Station. This was also the site of the E. B. Douglas Company department store, which was one of the oldest mercantile businesses in Miami.

Isidor Cohen observed in his 1925 memoir Historical Sketches and Sidelights of Miami, Florida, that “the material condition of a town’s merchants is its prosperity barometer.” The saying was particularly fitting for Miami at the time, when the city’s economic vitality could be measured by its leading businesses. Among the most prominent were the four oldest and most firmly established businesses—W. M. Burdine’s Sons, E. B. Douglas, John Sewell & Brother, and the F. T. Budge Company—alongside two younger but noteworthy competitors, the Burdine & Quarterman Company and the New York Department Store.

The E. B. Douglas Company

Edward Baugh Douglas was born in Monroe County, Georgia, and arrived in Miami on March 1, 1898. Soon after his arrival, he opened a dry goods store for a Pensacola firm, which he managed until it was lost in Miami’s second major fire about a year later, on November 12, 1899. The blaze, which began due to an accident involving an oil stove in the Hotel Miami, destroyed the store and several other businesses along Avenue D (Miami Avenue). In settling with the firm afterward, Douglas accepted a quantity of salvaged merchandise as compensation for his services.

Following the fire, Douglas moved into the Biscayne Hotel on the corner of 12th Street (Flagler Street) and Avenue D. His wife, Gussie Peddy, helped her husband in the millinery department. Five years later, they moved into a building fronting Flagler Street, and over the years, the business expanded until it occupied the entire building. This building extended from Flagler Street to 13th Street (Southeast 1st Street).

In 1925, Burdines acquired the entire stock of merchandise from the E. B. Douglas Company. The E. B. Douglas Company continued to operate as a holding company, owning shares in both Burdines and Douglas Properties Inc. Douglas would also retain ownership of the property that would become the site of the Venetian Arcade Building.

Douglas retired from business later that same year, but he dedicated much of his time and resources to philanthropic work. His favored causes included the Y.W.C.A. and the Red Cross, to which he gave both energy and financial support. During World War I, he devoted himself entirely to directing Red Cross activities in the region. After the war, he concentrated his efforts on strengthening the Y.W.C.A., co-founding the City Hospital (Jackson Memorial Hospital), advancing the Boy Scouts, and leading Miami’s Community Chest, where he served as chairman.

Venetian Arcade

The former E. B. Douglas Department Store was demolished in 1926 and replaced with the Venetian Arcade Building. This building was designed by architect Anthony DeHaven Zink, a native of New York who had recently moved to Miami and quickly established himself in the city’s architectural and civic circles. He served as a consultant engineer with the Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) in Miami and designed numerous private residences during his career.

Shortly after arriving, he worked in association with August Geiger, one of Miami’s pioneer architects. Earlier in his career in New York, he was connected with the distinguished architectural firm of Warren & Wetmore, designers of such landmarks as Grand Central Terminal, Michigan Central Station in Detroit, and the Atlantic City Ritz-Carlton Hotel.

Zink held leadership roles in his profession, serving as secretary of the Florida Association of Architects and as president of the Florida South chapter of the American Institute of Architects. Beyond architecture, he was deeply engaged in civic life. He was an active Shriner, directing the Shrine Patrol, and a member of the Army-Navy Club. He also served as a captain in the Officers’ Reserve Association and the Engineer Corps of Organized Reserves.

His dedication to service extended back to his military career. During World War I, Zink served with distinction in the Fourth Division. Before the war, he was stationed on the Mexican border in 1916 and later became captain of Company E in the 107th Regiment of the New York National Guard.

S. H. Kress & Company

S. H. Kress & Company, located at 24 East Flagler Street, just east of Burdines, opened in 1916. Kress was a chain of five-and-dime retail department stores in the United States established by Samuel Henry Kress that operated from 1896 to 2001.

The Kress chain was renowned for the distinctive architecture of its buildings. Samuel H. Kress envisioned his stores as works of public art that would enhance the cityscape. Many former Kress stores are recognized as architectural landmarks and are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. One of the most notable architects associated with Kress was Edward Sibbert, the company’s chief architect, who designed over fifty Art Deco S. H. Kress & Co. stores between 1929 and 1954.

Edward Sibbert, S. H. Kress & Company’s Chief Architect

Born on July 1, 1889, in Brooklyn, New York, Edward Sibbert began his architectural studies at the Pratt Institute, focusing on structural engineering. He continued his training at Cornell University in the architecture program, where he was inducted into the New York Alpha chapter of the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity, a group noted for producing artists and architects. Through the fraternity, he also became a member of the Irving Literary Society. After completing his formal education, Sibbert entered the profession as a draftsman with W.T. Grant and Company, a national dime-store retailer.

In 1924, Sibbert and his Cornell classmate—and fraternity brother—Russell Pancoast moved to Miami, where Pancoast’s grandfather, John S. Collins, was actively developing Miami Beach. For a young architect, it was the ideal place at the ideal moment as Florida’s land boom was at its peak, with properties changing hands multiple times in a single day. But the frenzy was short-lived. By 1926, the speculative bubble was already weakening, and the devastating Miami hurricane that year hastened its collapse, bringing the city’s building boom to an abrupt halt. With opportunities gone, Sibbert and his wife, Bertha, left Florida and returned to Brooklyn, where he accepted a position as an architect with E. H. Faile.

In 1929, Sibbert responded to a newspaper advertisement and was hired by the Kress Company as its chief architect. His first notable work for the company was the Kress building in Greensboro, North Carolina. Sibbert served in this position for 25 years, shaping the chain’s identity through a consistent architectural style distinguished by its use of ornamental terra cotta. Over the course of his career, he designed stores across the United States that became instantly recognizable in their elegance and uniformity.

He was active in professional and artistic circles, holding membership in the American Institute of Architects, the American Society of Civil Engineers, and the Salmagundi Club of New York. After many years in New York City, Sibbert retired to Pompano Beach, Florida, where he lived until his death on May 13, 1982.

Expansion of Kress’ Downtown Location

By 1924, the Kress company’s location on East Flagler Street required additional space, and being sandwiched between Burdines and Lerner’s, the company could only expand up or down. So, a basement was dug below the building to accommodate the growing business, but this was after the matter was taken to the Florida Supreme Court. The city commissioners disapproved of having a basement underneath the sidewalk despite assurances from the Kress company that the walls and foundations of the neighboring properties would be reinforced before construction began.

Destruction and Rebuilding

Less than a year later, Kress suffered a $500,000 loss when its building was destroyed in a fire. On the night of July 2, 1925, a fire broke out in the building, but it wasn’t reported until smoke filled the streets. Even then, the fire wasn’t located until the roof was engulfed in flames. Four fire engines responded and doused the fire for two hours using eleven hoses, pumping over 5,500 gallons of water per minute. The entire second and third floors were destroyed, as well as all the stock in the basement, as it had completely flooded.

The fire caused around $100,000 in damage to the neighboring Burdines building, mostly due to the building’s fire sprinkler system. The Liggetts’ Drug Store, just to the east of Kress, suffered considerable losses due to smoke and water damage.

Within two months of the fire, construction on a new five-story steel fireproof building, complete with a basement, began on the site. This building was designed by local architects Gerald Joseph O’Reilly and George L. Pfeiffer, who had just finished plans for the nearby Shoreland Arcade.

Acquisition and Renovation of the Venetian Arcade

Needing to expand further, the Kress company purchased the Venetian Arcade building in 1935 for $550,000 from E. B. Douglas. Edward Sibbert designed the renovation plans for the Venetian Arcade for a much larger department store, with construction being carried out by the J. Y. Gooch Company for $750,000.

Described as an “architectural and engineering achievement,” construction was completed in just nine months despite delays due to the steel mill strikes happening at the time. The building comprised four floors and a basement with a ground floor of 24,000 square feet dedicated to selling space. The store also featured a restaurant and air conditioning throughout. The main entrance, which fronted Flagler Street, featured four window displays that flanked the building’s bronze doors.

After the new store’s opening in February 1938, the old Kress location was purchased by Lerner’s for $300,000, which was originally located at 38 East Flagler Street, but moved as Woolworth’s wanted to expand its location at 46 East Flagler Street.

Flagler Station

In 1964, Genesco, Inc. acquired the Kress chain and soon shifted its focus away from traditional downtown stores to the growing trend of suburban shopping malls. By 1980, the company began liquidating the brand and closing stores nationwide.

In June 1981, it was announced that the Kress downtown location was purchased by Natan Roberto Rok and his associate Eli Klinger. Klinger was the owner of the Galleria International Mall, a Latin-style indoor mall located on Flagler Street and Third Avenue in what used to be the Paramount Theater.

Natan Rok, the “Mayor of Flagler Street”

Rok was a Cuban exile who came to Miami in 1964 and started a modest business called Dandy Men’s Wear at 72 East Flagler Street in the former Morris Brothers department store. This business eventually expanded to six stores.

Maybe inspired by the approach Morris Brothers took with their building, Rok purchased an old Walgreens on the northwest corner of East Flagler Street and Miami Avenue, and split it into five stores. Having found success with this concept, he went on to do the same with the building across the street, purchasing a 20-year lease and dividing that one into ten stores. Soon, he was making $20,000 a month profit from that building alone. He continued the process: buying a big building, cutting it up and renting it out, until eventually he was the landlord of over 300 merchants downtown.

The Kress building was his next project, but unlike his other properties, this was to be turned into a “condominium shopping mall.” The facade was to remain unchanged, but the interior was planned as an indoor “European-style mall” with a five-story atrium, glass elevators, and skylights. The first two floors and mezzanine were to be dedicated to shopping space, the top two floors for office space, and the basement for additional offices and a cafe.

The next year, it was announced that Rok was the only one attached to the project, but the same basic premise of the plans was the same. After several delays, the result was Flagler Station, a vertical mall with stores on the ground floor, restaurants on the second floor, and offices above. Rok’s penthouse suite office was located on the sixth floor. Also featured on the mezzanine was a computer-operated baby grand piano, which is fondly remembered by those who frequented the mall.

Redevelopment

In 2015, developer Moishe Mana acquired the Flagler Station and the neighboring Morris Brothers building for $35 million. The purchase became part of Mana’s second major Miami initiative, MANA Common—a massive redevelopment project designed to integrate living, working, and cultural spaces. Plans called for more than 5,000 micro-units, collaborative workspaces, and creative hubs. Guided by his philosophy that fostering innovation is more impactful than simply collecting rent, Mana also invested in numerous startups across industries. The project was positioned not only as a catalyst for cultural growth but also as a response to Miami’s housing shortage, promising new middle-income housing in the heart of the city.

By 2019, however, the property had been cited as an unsafe structure, with another violation issued in 2022. Although Mana initially intended to renovate the historic Flagler Station and Morris Brothers buildings, years of deterioration left them beyond saving. Despite its roots dating back to 1926, when it was originally the Venetian Arcade, extensive alterations over the decades had stripped the site of most of its architectural integrity. In July 2025, the Morris Brothers building was demolished, with plans for Flagler Station to soon follow.

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