Alas, conforming to the principle of highest and best use of prime real estate – The site of the old Lincoln Road Theatre on Miami Beach’s pedestrian Lincoln Road Mall will be converted to commercial retail use in 2011. A local group of experienced Miami Beach real estate investors are under contract to purchase the current site of the Lincoln Theatre, with plans to convert the building to retail space on the ground floor.
The long-time and historic site of Miami Beach’s New World Symphony was originally built in 1935. The New World Symphony is in the process of constructing its new home designed by architect Frank Gehry in a modern structure just North of the current site. The current theatre site is a 38,000 SF building on the Lincoln Road Pedestrian Mall, located at the cross section of Lincoln Road Mall and Pennsylvania Avenue. The New World Symphony is scheduled to continue operating out of the current Lincoln Theatre until January, 2011.
Plans call for the four story building to be converted to three floors, most probably with retail space on the ground floor and office facilities above. Plans call for preserving the architectural features of the historic building, with the renovations and construction changes requiring eventual approval by Miami Beach’s Design Review Board. The renovated theatre may be home to as many as four retail shops and restaurants, with potential opening in 2012 or 2013.
This deal means that commercial retail in hot tourist destinations such as Miami Beach continue to command a premium, as some of the top tenants on Lincoln Road have reported retail sales as high as $1,000 a square foot. Given Design Review Architectural, Density, Height, and Construction Restrictions- a lack of space has made it difficult for larger national chain tenants to find a suitable locations with spaces larger than 5,000-square-feet in Miami Beach’s prime real estate market.
It has been reported in the Miami Herald that the goal of the buyers of the Lincoln Road Theatre site is to create a new Miami Becah city center with a campus-like feel, including a new parking garage and an eco-friendly park.
Miami Commercial Real Estate Blog 