Bahamians Face Gentrification in Miami

"The question has never been whether Grand Avenue's vacant lots and deteriorating buildings would be redeveloped, but when.The answer may come Thursday.

Miami commissioners will consider giving preliminary approval to the first phase of the massive Grove Village on Grand, which would reshape six blocks of the street that runs through the heart of Coconut Grove's black and Bahamian community.

Meanwhile, community activists are calling for subsidized housing and hoping for the protection afforded other Bahamian communities in South Florida.

'This is a story of survival,' says Pierre Sands, president of the Village West Homeowners and Tenants Association.

Grove Village, the $300 million vision of Pointe Group Advisors, headed by local businessman Peter Gardner, promises new life to a street that once thrived."