[4][5] His father, Gerald Robins, was a successful Miami Beach real estate developer who moved to Florida from New York City in the 1950s.
[4] Robins was greatly influenced by his father who worked extensively in Miami Beach and raised Craig and his three siblings on Star Island.
[10] In 1986, he was approached by New York real estate developers Tony Goldman and Mark Soyka who wanted to renovate the storied but run-down Park Central Hotel on Ocean Drive in Miami Beach.
[12] In 1992, they purchased with their father for $8.5 million the Cavalier, the Cardozo, the Carlyle, the Leslie, and the Victor hotels from the creditors of developer Leonard Pelullo.
[4] Robins’ next important mentor was real estate developer Tony Goldman, who was largely credited for the revitalization of NYC’s Soho.
[4] In 1999, Dacra acquired 8.5 acres on the southern tip of Allison Island and created AQUA, a New Urbanist community featuring modern architecture, design and site-specific public art.
The private residential community of 46 homes on Allison Island designed by ten different architecture firms with a master plan by Duany Plater-Zyberk and public art projects including a 100-foot mural by Richard Tuttle.
Exhibits at Dacra often feature works by artists John Baldessari, Richard Tuttle, Kai Althoff, Rirkrit Tiravanija and Nicole Eisenman.
[26] Additional public art pieces at Aqua include “Aquarelle” by Guillermo Kuitca[27] and “Freebird” by Mark Handforth, both of whom have works in the collection.