A City Rebuilt and Redefined

Sixteen years after Andrew, Homestead is thriving, on a scale that seemed unimaginable not long ago and in defiance of the real-estate meltdown in South Florida. The city in recent years has seen about 1.5 million square feet of retail space open.

"Every time you drive by, there's something new going up," says Tom David, an attorney who worked on government-recovery projects after Andrew and now advises private clients on zoning and land-use issues in South Florida.

The reversal in Homestead is remarkable for a city that was nearly blown off the map. Andrew leveled hundreds of houses, damaged thousands of others and left streets so devoid of landmarks and signs that locals would get lost. The federal government closed an Air Force base that had long anchored the local economy.