More luxury brands heading to Miami’s Design District

Palm Court Fly's Eye Dome (Credit: Robin Hill) in the Design District
Palm Court Fly's Eye Dome (Credit: Robin Hill) in the Design District

Miami’s Design District will soon be home to the first stores in Florida for trendy designers Isabel Marant, Alice & Olivia, Joseph, and Zilli, as the neighborhood continues to transform into a luxury shopping destination.

On the heels of Hermès launching its new flagship store in the Design District last week, Dacra said more than a dozen upscale retailers have signed leases, including high-end brands Saint Laurent, Tory Burch, Tod’s and Loro Piana.

In addition, Turkish jeweler Sevan Biçakçi will open its first location in the United States, and Be Miami, a high-end sneaker and contemporary streetwear concept will launch an original flagship. Among specialty stores, perfume house Creed will open its first location outside New York. Skincare line Aesop will also open a store, and high-end Italian marble furniture showroom Citco will launch its first location in the United States, which will feature a Zaha Hadid collection.

“We’ve been for the past year basically a large construction site,” Dacra President and CEO Craig Robins told The Real Deal. “The opening of Hermes, for me, was the tipping point, where all of the sudden we have a small but very solid critical mass of brands that are now open, and we can see more activity in the neighborhood.”

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Hermès

The new stores will join such existing luxury brands as Marni, Christian Louboutin, Christian Louboutin Men’s, Maison Martin Margiela, Dior Homme, Louis Vuitton, Berluti, Celine, Rick Owens, Zadig & Voltaire, Loewe, Delpozo, Marc by Marc Jacobs, Lanvin and Tom Ford.

This year, Robins said sales are up, year-over-year and month-over-month, for 11 of the 13 existing stores in the district.

“One has to recognize that this is just the beginning,” he told TRD. “Because of the total openings we are going to have by the middle of 2017, only 30 [percent] to 40 percent are now open.”

In terms of scheduling, stores aiming to open still this fall include John Lobb, Opera Gallery and Markowicz Gallery.

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By the end of next year, Be Miami, Aesop, Citco, Creed, Dior, Dolce & Gabbana, Faubourg Galerie & Café, Isabel Marant, Joseph, Loro Piana, Rag & Bone, Tod’s, Tory Burch, Van Cleef & Arpels, Saint Laurent, Sevan Biçakçi and Zilli will open. Alice & Olivia and Diane von Furstenberg are scheduled to launch in 2017.

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Craig Robins

In the Design District, commercial rents are now about $150 per square foot, blended, for three stories, Robins said.

Overall, Dacra now has 50 retail businesses open and other property owners  — including Thor Equities and TriStar Capital — have an additional 12 stores open, Robins said.  By March, Dacra’s figure will rise to 60. Construction on another 20 stores has begun, and those stores will start to open in late 2016, he said.

By the end of 2017,  Dacra will have 120 stores open on its own property, and other property owners will have another 40. Ten new restaurants are also planned for the neighborhood.

“The nice thing about the Design District is that every month between now and 2017 there’s going to be something new that is opening, something new that is happening,” Robins said, “and the neighborhood will get better and better until the total offering is open in mid-2017.