Julia & Henry's Food Hall: from 1936 Walgreen Landmark to Modern Downtown Hotspot
By Alexander Ross
Downtown Miami was a different machine in the mid-1930s. The city was clawing its way out of the Great Depression and rebuilding after the catastrophic 1926 hurricane. Charles Walgreen picked this specific parcel on Flagler Street to showcase modern American commercial enterprise. Designed in 1936 by the architecture firm Zimmerman, Martin and Associates, the structure was built to overwhelm the senses. It stood five stories tall, faced in coral stone and curved Streamline Moderne stucco, accented by soaring vertical glass fins.
The interior was legendary. It boasted an 89-foot soda fountain, widely cited at the time as the second longest in the world. Thousands of daily shoppers gathered for ten-cent malteds, chicken salad sandwiches, and prescription pick-ups. The building served as the central nerve of Downtown commerce for decades before suburban flight began hollowing out the district in the late 1970s. Walgreen eventually shuttered the location in 2005.
The building saw a brief second act as La Época, a Cuban-founded department store that preserved much of the interior open-mezzanine layout. When La Época closed its doors in 2016, the building fell silent. Historic preservationists worried the property would suffer demolition by neglect, a common fate for mid-century buildings in South Florida where land value often outstrips existing structures.
Alexander Ross has covered the video game industry for a decade, writing deep dives on game design, esports tournaments, VR developments, and gaming culture.
