Incoming leader of local property owners’ group brings extensive experience, strong municipal ties to post
The Wynwood Business Improvement District (BID), a municipal board of the City of Miami comprised of local property owners in the bustling urban arts district, has selected longtime Coconut Grove BID leader Manny Gonzalez to be its executive director. His selection was unanimously approved by the City of Miami Commission today. A native Miamian, Gonzalez brings a combination of leadership experience and municipal government knowledge to his new post, which will see him run the day-to-day operations of the Wynwood BID, an agency that represents more than 400 property owners, and works to improve the neighborhood and plan for its future.
“Manny is the ideal fit for our organization, given his strong experience working with property owners and municipal government leaders to improve the Coconut Grove area,” said BID Board Chairman Joseph Furst. “He has a solid track record of accomplishments there, and we look forward to Manny putting his knowledge to work for Wynwood, as we pursue new policy and planning initiatives to further improve our neighborhood.”
Gonzalez has spent the past eight years at the Coconut Grove BID, becoming executive director in 2012, overseeing multimillion-dollar annual budgets, bringing trolley service to the Grove, and creating a Zika Emergency Plan for the neighborhood, among other accomplishments. Prior to becoming executive director, he served as the organization’s projects coordinator. In that capacity, he worked with the City of Miami, Miami-Dade County, the Miami Police Department, local property owners and Grove merchants on several neighborhood improvements, including street-scaping projects, public safety initiatives and sanitation efforts. Before his time at the Coconut Grove BID, Gonzalez worked in commercial property management.
“We’re pleased to welcome Manny aboard as the Wynwood BID’s executive director and we’re confident that he will build on his legacy of success in the Grove – and contribute directly to the BID’s legacy of success here in Wynwood,” said BID Board Vice Chairman Albert Garcia. “We have an ambitious agenda for the coming years and Manny will be integral in seeing it through to completion.”
Gonzalez, who will officially assume his new post on Monday, May 15th, succeeds Tom Curitore, who has served as executive director of the Wynwood BID since shortly after its creation in 2013.
About the Wynwood Business Improvement District (BID)
The Wynwood BID is a municipal board of the City of Miami representing more than 400 property owners that comprise the 50-city-block Wynwood Arts District. Run by a Board of Directors who themselves are property owners from the community, the BID works to enhance security and sanitation services in the neighborhood, advocate for the betterment of the area, raise awareness of advancements being made, and plan for the future of Wynwood.
