Bothers Jonathan, left, and Abraham Fish, who developed the Thrive Art Distroct in Fort Lauderdale.
Carl Juste
cjuste@miamiherald.com
A vintage store next to a matcha cafe next to a romance bookstore across the street from a brewery next to a pilates studio. Crisp white walls decorated in murals you’d expect to find in Wynwood. A shiny skyline in the distance.
For the trend-seeking 20-something-year-olds of Fort Lauderdale, Thrive Art District, a commerce and arts hub near downtown, may be their new oasis.
“We say in private a lot, ‘We need to make Fort Lauderdale cool again,’” said Taymir Terrell, 28, who founded Alma Matcha with friend Jessica Binder, 29, and opened their Thrive location last October. Despite rainy March weather outside, the inside of their matcha cafe was buzzing with dozens of customers happily sipping on light green lattes.
“Miami’s got their thing going,” Binder said. “Fort Lauderdale has got room for growth, so we want to be a part of that.”
What was once two city blocks of dingy industrial warehouses is now an alluring complex of stores, cafes, artist studios and event space meant to attract Fort Lauderdale’s burgeoning population of young professionals and South Floridians willing to drive from Miami and West Palm Beach.
After celebrating Thrive Art District’s ribbon-cutting ceremony earlier this month, brothers Jonathan and Abraham Fish, Thrive ‘s co-founders and developers, said the idea was to bring something different to Fort Lauderdale.
“It has to be big enough to really change an area, to do something that’s really going to make a difference,” Jonathan Fish added. “Fort Lauderdale is just perfect because there’s such a need for a destination like this over here.”
Thrive Art District, about 80,000 square feet of mixed-use space in the Progresso Village area, certainly aims to fill a niche. Tucked in between the historic Sistrunk neighborhood, the still under-construction FAT Village development and Flagler Village, a neighborhood popular with young people and families, Thrive is meant to cater to downtown Fort Lauderdale’s evolving demographics.
Fort Lauderdale, as Mayor Dean Trantalis boasted during his State of the City address last year, is in the midst of an economic “renaissance.” The post-pandemic years have been defined by a real estate boom, population surge and increase in jobs, especially in and around the downtown area. Unlike other major cities, downtown Fort Lauderdale saw an 83 percent increase in families with children since 2018, according to data from the Fort Lauderdale Downtown Development Authority.
The city government and Community Redevelopment Agency worked closely with the Fish brothers on the project, providing nearly $4 million to go toward fixing infrastructure within the Thrive complex..
“I’ve never seen money better spent than what you were able to create here,” Trantalis said at the March 4 ribbon-cutting ceremony.
From ‘gross’ warehouses to an outdoor gallery 
The Thrive Art District, an arts and commercial hub in Fort Lauderdale that caters to young professionals, is now open. Carl Juste cjuste@miamiherald.com
It started with a car ride around town. Years before the pandemic, the Fish brothers were driving around Fort Lauderdale looking for a gem. They found it in on Fifth Street and Eighth Avenue, where there was a 60 foot-wide right of way.
“It just has so much opportunity,” Jonathan said.
The brothers, who used to work in the insurance industry, then started approaching owners to purchase the warehouses in 2016, eventually acquiring about 10 buildings. When they presented the idea for the art district to the Fort Lauderdale City Commission, “they thought we were dreaming,” Jonathan said.
“Now we’re heroes,” Abraham quipped.
City Commissioner Steven Glassman, who represents the area Thrive is located, recalled when the Fish brothers invited him tour the site six years ago, back when it was “really gross.”
“I looked at them and said, ‘Really?’” Glassman said. “It was such a blighted area. I mean, it was just one rag shop after another, greasy, dirty, derelict. I just couldn’t believe what they were telling me their vision was, but I love people with vision.”
The brothers’ vision and passion for the idea is what got Glassman on board. He worked closely with the Fish brothers, who invested about $20 million in the project, to get Thrive to the finish line. The brothers said the city allowed them exceptions to certain city codes regarding setbacks in order to build the district as they intended.
“Thanks to Commissioner Steve Glassman who was a tremendous help in pushing this. The entire city, they really were able to work with us,” Abraham said. “You can’t build this today, even if with all the money in the world. They were able to help us be grandfathered in.”
Construction started in 2021. Businesses and artists started moving into the district in 2024. To date, Thrive is home to about 35 businesses and art studios for about a dozen artists, where monthly rent starts at $600 for a small studio.
Incorporating art into the development was central to the Fish brothers’ vision, they said. Their father was an art dealer who raised his sons around art. But while their father was focused on the old masters, the brothers are more interested in street art and how it evolved from taboo to respected.
“We always felt that art is something that really unifies and creates something special. When you create a district, it’s very important that there’s a theme. What’s unique about the destination?” Abraham said. “Ours, I would say, is the best way of going about it. [Street art] was what’s going to connect all the businesses together and give it the vibe that when you walk around, you feel part of something.”
The Fish brothers say Thrive is home to, probably, “the largest outdoor gallery in the world.” They started by inviting mural artists they were fans of to view the space and create a unique piece of art. Soon, other artists from South Florida and around the world reached out, they said.
The artists were given one unique parameter: Allow for there to be a border of white around the mural to act as a “frame.” Because of that, each mural pops against the white background, attracting the attention it deserves as a work of art.
“When you take an area that’s blighted, where nothing is really happening, and you activate it with arts and culture, it’s a magnet,” Glassman said. “It creates an energy. It just makes people want to be there.”
Booming businesses 
Maddison Haruch, right, prepares a matcha for a customer at Alma Matcha’s temporary location as the buildout for its permanent store is underway at the Thrive Art District. Carl Juste cjuste@miamiherald.com 
Sotiria Sourlis at her restaurant Greek Sugar in the Thrive Art District in Fort Lauderdale. Greek Sugar sells traditional savory and sweet Greek treats. Courtesy of Thrive Art District
When Sotiria Sourlis came to Thrive for an Art Walk event, she immediately fell in love — with a storefront.
She wasn’t alone, Abraham said. A couple of people wanted the space for themselves, but Sourlis and her restaurant Greek Sugar got the prize. “She fought for it,” he said.
“I love the brightness of this particular store. I love that it faces the music square where all the events are. High ceilings, my neighbors, all the art outside, all the culture in the neighborhood,” Sourlis said. “I love my view when I stand here and I see the tremendous mural in front of me. We’re happy to be a part of the Thrive community.”
While Greek Sugar has only been open for about a month, the restaurant already has repeat customers, she said. One fellow Greek woman drove from Davie for a taste of home.
“It truly makes my soul so warm that they go out of their way to try my food,” Sourlis said.
Artist Chris Dyer, who sells custom glass artworks, had a similar love-at-first-sight story with Thrive.
“I drove past the neighborhood and I was like, ‘Let me do a sales pitch,’” he recalled.
He contacted the Fish brothers immediately and moved in last year.
“I believe Thrive is going to be the next big thing when it comes to Wynwood,” Dyer said.
The demand for space at Thrive, either for storefronts, studios or event scheduling, is high, the Fish brothers said. Thrive regularly hosts events including art fests, car shows, music performances, yoga classes and other wellness-related events that are popular among younger people.
“One of the things we’re getting right now is a lot of requests to do events over here,” Jonathan said. “That’s another thing that we are kind of surprised at, how fast that’s taking place. But we kind of knew it, because Fort Lauderdale needed a place like this.”
The brothers are also in talks with cruise lines about bringing tourists to Thrive for excursions when they hop off the ships in Fort Lauderdale. Tourists can come do a tour of the art district, learn how to spray paint a mural or make their own custom bag charms at leather shop Atomic Freedom. “It’s going to become a big tourist destination,” Jonathan said.
Alma Matcha co-owner Taymir Terrell, 28, takes a moment as she enjoys her business new location at the Thrive Art District. Carl Juste cjuste@miamiherald.com
As small business owners and Broward natives, Binder and Terrell said Thrive’s rapid growth has been exciting to see. The art district, which is primarily occupied by local businesses, is exactly where they want Alma Matcha to grow, they said.
“I just imagine this place full of people outside, reading a book, drinking matcha, enjoying the sun,” Binder said of the district.
The business partners believe in Thrive so much, they opened the cafe last year as a temporary location to encourage their loyal customers to check out the area. In the meantime, Alma Match’s flagship store has been under construction next door, and will open this spring.
Though they could have opened a cafe anywhere, Miami or New York City, Binder and Terrell said there’s no place like home.
“This is what we want for us and for our our future kids and our our neighbors and our sisters and brothers. It’s not to say we won’t eventually do Miami and New York and all these other major places,” Terrell said. “But that doesn’t feed the soul.”
A group of San Diego spring breakers spends some time at Alma Matcha. Carl Juste cjuste@miamiherald.com