Check out this tour of the street improvements that were scheduled to take up to four years and costs $13 million. Nearly five later, the unfinished project is estimated to cost at least $33 million.

A deep examination of the Flagler Street improvement project in the Central Business District of Greater Downtown Miami reveals an effort crippled by soaring costs and significant delays, creating a challenging environment for local retailers.

The reconstruction, intended to revitalize Miami’s tired CBD, has reportedly devolved into a multi-year debacle, prompting Peter Zalewski, founder of the Miami Condo Investing Club™, to conduct a walking tour and broadcast his findings.

This broadcast occurred on Saturday, Nov. 29, 2025, the second day of Zalewski’s three-day Black Friday condo shopping excursion in Greater Downtown Miami.

On Friday, Nov. 28, 2025, Zalewski toured the Brickell Avenue Area, while the focus today was the Central Business District.

On Sunday, Nov. 30, 2025, Zalewski is scheduled to tour the Miami Worldcenter neighborhood.

The initiative, which focuses on a five-block stretch of Flagler Street and aims to replace street curbs with a flat, festival-style surface for events and a farmers market, broke ground in May 2021.

It was initially planned to cost $13 million and be completed within four years.

Zalewski noted on his tour that the estimated cost is now at least $33 million, a near triple of the original budget, with the best-case completion date extended to June 2026.

He noted that this development reinforces a general rule he gives people regarding construction: plan on it taking three times as long and costing twice as much, though this specific case might be one of the rare exceptions where the cost triples.

The dire situation for businesses was documented in a PoliticalCortadito.com article, which stated that merchants are experiencing “slow, painful deaths” behind barricades that have not moved in nearly a year.