Street Florida (Buenos Aires)

Florida Street in 1888.

Colonial Period

The beginning of Florida Street dates back to the base in Buenos Aires, when the street was a path from a river. Its first official name was San Jose, which was given to the street by Governor Miguel de Salcedo in 1734. At the end of the eighteenth and beginning of the nineteenth century, the street was called Del Correo, then it went from the corner of the current streets Perú (continuation of Florida) and Hipólito Yrigoyen. Also known as Empedrado, it was paved since 1789 with stones brought from Montevideo, becoming the first cobbled street of the city (part of this pavement was preserved outside the entrance of the Catedral metro station and at Avenida Roque Saens Pena Avenue). After the English invasions in 1808 , the street received the name Baltasar Unquera, in honor of the assistant Santiago de Liniers, who visited the monastery of Santo Domingo. In 1821, the street received the name Florida, in honor of the Battle of Florida (Bolivia), which occurred in 1814 in Upper Peru against realists. In 1837, Juan Manuel de Rosas named the street of Peru and in 1857 the street restored its current name. On Florida Street in 1813, the anthem of Argentina was first sung in the house of Mariquita Sanchez de Thompson.

Aristocratic period

The Argentine elite began to leave their homes south of the Plaza de Mayo mainly due to epidemics, especially the yellow fever epidemic in 1871, deciding to relocate to another area of ​​the city and choosing an area near San Martin Square. In 1872, the street became commercial. Pharmacies, furniture stores, jewelry and clothing stores offering the latest European fashion were built. In 1889, at the intersection of the street with Avenida Cordoba Avenue, the political movement Unión Cívica de la Juventud, which was the forerunner of the 1890 revolution (Revolución del Parque Park), appeared in this place. At the end of the nineteenth century, trams began to walk along the street. At this time, the magnificent Jockey Club building was built at Florida 559. This outstanding building along Florida Street became the meeting place for the upper class of the city at the beginning of the 20th century. But in those same years, Florida Street became shopping.

Shopping Street

In 1910, the street developed through trade, while wealthy citizens moved further north to the areas of Recoleta and Palermo . In 1911, at the request of trading organizations, car traffic was prohibited between 11 and 21 hours.

At that time, the traditional upper class began a new relocation to Florida Street, farther north, where they could avoid more intense traffic in the city center and find free land to build new houses. Firstly, the transfer of land was carried out around St. Martin's Square: at that time the following were built: Palacio Ortiz Basualdo Anchorena (1904), Palacio Anchorena (Palacio San Martí) (1908) and Palacio Paz (1912). But the migration of the aristocracy in Buenos Aires continued even further from the center to Avenida Alvear and Barrio Norte, then continued to move along the current Avenida del Libertador in the Palermo area.

So, Florida Street became more and more commercial, although some well-known houses previously belonged to the Peña family, and then crossed Sociedad Rural Argentina. Cafe Richmond, Hockey Club and other houses belonging to some traditional aristocratic families that owned them in the past for several decades, but by the middle of the 20th century, remained mainly in the people's memory, remembering the street of which it was at that time.

In honor of the centenary of the May Revolution, large shops were built on Florida Street, large commercial "palaces" of large sizes, such which the city has not seen so far. If in 1890 the Au Bon Marché store project was stopped due to the crisis of 1890, the building under construction became “Galería Florida” and in 1908 was bought by the railway company Ferrocarril al Pacífico, getting its current name Galerias Pacifico.

In 1912, the large building of the Gath & Chaves store was built on the corner of Kangallo (now Peron), and then two years later the stores Harrods and Mueblería Thompson were built (between the streets of Cordoba and Paraguay occupying almost an entire city block), the first branch of the British trading company was open outside the UK; and in 1915, Galería Güemes, a new luxurious building in Buenos Aires, which reached a height of almost 80 meters, was opened to the public. The success of the Gath & Chaves store was such that by 1925 it was already necessary to build an additional building, across the street from Cangallo and the same size as the original. This decade has completely changed Florida Street.

Having turned into a purely commercial street, with many shops and several banking houses, Florida has definitely become a pedestrian street since July 1, 1971, when Saturnino Montero Ruiz was mayor. The road became on the same level with sidewalks, and the expansion of the first quarter, between Avenida Rivadavia and Diagonal Norte , became connected with its status as the first tourist street where the municipality information stand appeared. During work on this site, after raising the road to the sidewalk level, the site of the old colonial pavers of the eighteenth century was preserved, today there is a memorial plaque.

Work on transforming Florida Street lasted almost 5 months. Huge bulldozers drove along the street to make it a beautiful pedestrian street where shoe polishing was forbidden, as well as street sales and the sale of collectibles, cigarettes and sweets. However, flower stalls and cafes were allowed. By the end of the 1990s, the situation in Argentina was reflected on a pedestrian street: since 1995, the unemployment rate has risen. In 1999, the La Nación newspaper published materials about “broken sidewalks, open ditches and the spread of illegal merchants and beggars negatively impacted Florida Street” ^[3] . In a later article, the same newspaper complained that while driving along the street, "we saw artists, beggars, sellers and fictitious refugees and even juvenile delinquents who force shopkeepers to close blinds in their shops." ^[four]

However, the street has undergone significant changes since 1999, when after many years of oblivion, the street cover in the center was completely renovated, new lanterns and signs appeared. In addition, service companies updated the delivery of water, electricity, gas, and placed telephone cables and pipes for a new pipeline under the street ^[5] . Soon, repair work showed some flaws in its design: Lattices were removed, and more than 4000 tiles were removed ^[6] . Although the work in 2004 and 2007 after the claims of shop owners and pedestrians were repeated, the problem should be resolved by the city government ^{[7] [8] [9]} .

Work worth more than a million convertible pesos, in 2000 a pedestrian street felt a sharp decline in tourism and then from rising unemployment. After the crisis of 2001, many stores were closed. Newspapers talked about "the street is filled with beggars and beggar children lying on the street at the entrance to shops, food courts and at the entrances to the subway. Beggars desperately shout and cling to passers-by" ^[10] . At the same time, due to the crisis, the number of vacant premises increased as a result of widespread bankruptcy ^{[11] [12]} .

When the crisis ended, Florida Street began its revival in 2003, thanks to the boom in foreign tourism and the gradual resurgence of trade in the country. By mid-2005, many stores and brands that had left the street due to the crisis were restored. The number of premises leased out on Florida Street was about 96.7 percent. The high turnover of tenants was explained by a strong increase in rental prices, which led to sometimes vacant premises, the prices of which were too high ^[13] . The most popular among tenants were the corner from Avenida Cordoba and in the area of ​​Piazza San Martin, where the cost of rent exceeded $ 100 per square meter ^[14] .

Later this year, a branch of the Chilean Falabella store opened , giving a powerful impetus to development ^[15] . In 2006, this company received another branch in the same building where the famous “Gath & Chaves” used to be. The authorities had plans to rebuild the Harrods building, after failures in 2004 and 2006 ^[16] mainly used private capital. According to the Clarin newspaper, in January 2007, 98% of stores were opened ^[17] . at that time, Florida was the most expensive street in the country where you can rent a room. According to Colliers, the price per square meter increased from $ 65 in 2005 to $ 71 in the second half of 2006 ^[18] . Since the 2000s, in 2004 and beyond, the street has remained “one of the most sought after and most expensive in the capital” ^[19] although at first it was mainly small business, so many traders predicted a subsequent increase in property prices ^[20] . rent of new clothing stores and upscale galleries ^[21] . Even the 2008 crisis did not have a global impact on the occupancy rate on Florida Street ^[22] .

In 2012, the reconstruction of Florida Street, the largest since 1999, was carried out, cables were carried out (although it was already completed in 1999), and vegetation appeared on the street. With an investment of $ 11 million, the main thing was the change from black and white chess tiles to a concrete slab 1 meter 60 centimeters thick, new lights were created ^[23] . In January 2013, rent per square meter was $ 85.3 US dollars ^[24] . The first stage of street restoration was ready at the end of May 2013, including: from San Martin Square to the corner with Miter and Avenida Rivadavia streets ^[25] . Sidewalks were restored and garbage cans, wooden benches, flowerbeds and new lights with led technology were installed ^{[26] [27]} .

By January 2012, taking advantage of the summer holiday period, the city government finally removed street vendors from the street, with the help of the Metropolitana police ^{[28] [29] [30]} . The facades and lanterns housed in the Gath & Chaves, la Residencia Peña, the Richmond Patisserie and the Thompson Building have been restored. All canopies were removed to reconstruct the first floors of each building, in order to restore the traditional architecture ^[31] . Reconstruction of the ground floors was planned in more than 100 buildings, 24 were completed, and work is underway in 21 ^[32] .

Florida Street is characterized by the presence of many commercial galleries, including well-known:

• Galería Güemes , the first commercial “skyscraper” in Buenos Aires, opened in 1915. ^[33]
• Galería Jardín , characterized by the fact that many stores sell computer accessories.
• Galerías Pacífico , the gallery opened in 1890, restored and transformed into a shopping center in 1990, is popular with tourists.
• Galería Boston , is striking in that it is completely covered with paintings by the artist Caribe and was created in 1962. ^[34]