Piola, the popular pizzeria, has just signed a lease at Gateway Plaza at Doral, a redeveloped shopping center that is aiming to fill up with eateries.
The restaurant is taking a 2,937-square-foot space in the property’s Building B, Irma Figueroa, director of retail leasing and sales at the Comras Company, who exclusively represents Piola, told The Real Deal. The asking rent was $50 per square foot, Figueroa said.
Piola, which also has South Florida locations in Hallandale, Weston, Fort Lauderdale and Miami’s Brickell area and plans to open soon in Pinecrest, expects to launch in Doral in about six months, she said.
Gateway Plaza at Doral, at 2000 Northwest 87th Avenue, has 34,017 square feet of retail space, and is currently being marketed by High Street Retail.
Miami-Dade property records show the owner as DBH Properties Ltd., which is linked to MCH Properties, whose president is Mario Henriquez.
Sharon Dresser, president of High Street Retail, told TRD that she has worked with the property’s owner to design and redevelop the property. She is now marketing space to a variety of dining spots.
“We designed it for restaurants because the restaurants in the area do really well,” she said. “There are a lot of offices, and there is a need.”
The shopping center’s Building A is set to have such tenants as Chipotle Mexican Grill, Tropical Smoothie Cafe, Mooyah Burgers and Fries, Cold Stone Creamery and Ker’s Winghouse Bar and & Grill, she said. The restaurants have not yet opened. Sprint is also a tenant of the building.
In addition to Piola, Dresser said she has two leases in the works for Building B. One would be a breakfast/bakery type restaurant, and she declined to describe the other eatery.
Doral is undergoing rapid development, and has seen an influx of big name tenants and new projects this cycle. Its urban transformation includes the of addition two mixed-use, master-planned communities: Downtown Doral, developed by Codina Partners, and CityPlace Doral, developed by the Related Group, Shoma Homes and Prudential. Sergio Pino’s Century Homebuilders Group is also planning a mixed-use development, Midtown Doral, a four-phase development near the corner of Northwest 107th Avenue and Northwest 74th Street.