Lincoln Road Retail Demonstrates South Beach Strength

MIAMI-As Miami’s retail market continues outpacing the nation, one of my favorite retail strips has been seeing renewed action: Lincoln Road in South Beach.

I used to work for a sports photographer on Lincoln Road in the mid-1990s. I lived two blocks off Lincoln Road in one of those charming old Art Deco flats. South Beach looks much different then than it does today. But Lincoln Road has remained much the same—until recently.

Lincoln Road, an eight-block open-air pedestrian mall between Alton Road and Washington Avenue, features high-end restaurants, boutiques and entertainment. The street generates some of the highest per square foot sales in Florida as one of the only 24-hour retail destinations. The recent opening of the New World Symphony campus designed by Frank Gehry has helped spur a mini-boom at the street mall.

Earlier this year, Terranova and Acadia Realty inked a three-building deal to acquire landmark retail properties on Lincoln Road. The $52 million deal included 741 Lincoln Road, 600 Lincoln Road, and 723 North Lincoln Lane.

Terranova chairman Stephen Bittel told me he thinks Lincoln Road is the best retail street South of Madison Avenue. Terranova is expanding Miami Beach’s “5th Avenue of the South” moniker to Lincoln Lane as local and national tenants take up retail space and as buyers make their return to Miami Beach.

This summer, Vornado Capital Partners, acquired 1100 Lincoln Road, a 167,000-square-foot retail property in Miami Beach, for $132 million. 1100 Lincoln Road is the western anchor of the Lincoln Road shopping district.

Carter McDowell, partner at Bilzin Sumberg and local counsel to Vornado on the Lincoln Road transaction, told me to expect more deals on the strip, noting there are a number of large national REITS that are currently pursuing other properties on Lincoln Road.

And in July, Comras Company inked a long-term 20,000 square foot lease that makes possible a new Gap flagship retail store at 1001 Lincoln Road. The new ground-up building will reside at the site of Gap’s existing store, on the corner of Lincoln Road and Michigan Avenue.

1001 Lincoln is currently part of the National Register Miami Beach Architectural District, and the new building will incorporate numerous design elements to ensure the site’s past is properly represented.

With so much activity on Lincoln Road these days, I wonder how much different it will look the next time I make my way down to South Beach. One thing is certain, the city is working hard to make sure the famed strip maintains its historic appeal. Retail cycles may fluctuate. But Lincoln Road will always be Lincoln Road.