MIAMI-New York City-based Equinox Fitness Club has leased the 25,000-sf second floor of '500 Block of Collins Ave.,' the only newly constructed retail building in South Beach. Designed by locally based architect Zyscovich, it spans the block from Fifth to Sixth streets and marks the entrance to what has become the trendy South Beach shopping district. At night, the building features a light show.

Scarsdale, NY-based Rabina Realty developed the property with Lynne Lawrence as project director. Andrew Kahn, Greg Masin and Gene Spiegelman, directors of retail in the local office of Cushman & Wakefield, negotiated the lease transaction on Rabina's behalf and are handling lease-up of the 25,000-sf ground-floor space.

Masin tells GlobeSt.com the rental rate is $80 per sf. "This building is a continuation of the Collins Avenue fashion corridor," he says, "and there will be from four to six fashion-forward clothing retailers on the ground floor. Collins and Fifth Street is now directly situated at the epicenter of the most prolific growth area in South Beach," he says. "It will deliver tremendous density in the residential sector over the next few years, coupled with new development taking place over the bay."

Peter Levine of Equinox says his company was lured to South Beach "as the market is synergistic with the Equinox brand. We have considered expanding to South Florida before, but no one location fit all our needs until now. This is an exceptional building and we expect to thrive in this location for a long time."

An unrelated transaction offers further evidence of Collins Avenue shopping district's rising fashion stature. Fashion Box Group, the Italy-based supplier of Replay brand denim and clothing, acquired the historic 49-room Franklin Hotel at 860 Collins Ave. where it will establish its US flagship store, the first step of an ambitious expansion plan in this country. Its current US flagship and only US store is at 109 Prince St. in New York City's SoHo district.

Ray Betancourt and Rey Figueroa of the commercial division of Keyes Co., Zeth Parker of Income Real Estate and the New York law firm of Pavia & Harcourt LLP negotiated the Franklin Hotel sale. The price is undisclosed. Fashion Box operates 150 Replay-brand stores in more than 50 countries throughout Europe, the Middle East, Asia and the Americas and has $300 million in annual sales.