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South Florida

Another Biscayne Boulevard restaurant, the Fed, shutters

The Fed Food & Drink
The Fed Food & Drink

The Fed, formerly the Federal Food & Drink, has shuttered only months after reopening with a revamped menu and design. 

The Fed closed over the weekend with owners choosing not to renew their lease at the Little Haiti building, at 5132 Biscayne Boulevard in Miami. Instead, owners Ani Meinhold and Cesar Zapata plan to open Phuc Yea in a permanent space on 73rd Street and Biscayne, according to Eater.

The Federal has been a tenant at the building, owned by Emca Investments Inc., since February 2012, according to data from CoStar. Roy Martayan controls the Bay Harbor Islands-based landlord.

The restaurant gained national attention, even making it on Bravo’s “Best New Restaurant” show, and reopened earlier this year after renovating the interiors with new TVs, an extended bar and a “Miami Vice-inspired color palette.” It was also on the Food Network’s “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives.”

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“The rebrand was intentional in every sense – it was both to revive the brand, but also an effort to drive sales back into the restaurant. The way people were eating changed and we thought that was directly affecting our business,” Meinhold said in a statement to Eater. “Unfortunately we didn’t see the uptick we were hoping for; this combined with our lease being up for renewal and the long awaiting opening of Phuc Yea just around the bend pushed us to make a conscious, but hard decision to not renew the lease.”

Other tenants at the 12,434-square-foot strip mall include the Honey Tree, Planet Lighting and Go To Sushi.

Rents have risen in the Little Haiti and MiMo neighborhoods as a result of significant commercial investment activity. Asking rents on the Biscayne corridor have increased 21 percent since last year to $48.36 per square foot, triple net, according to CoStar. And nearly 68,000 square feet have been leased over the past 12 months – a 43 percent increase from the year before.

In May, Michelle Bernstein’s Cena by Michy closed citing failed lease negotiations. The restaurant, which had operated in the space at 6925 Biscayne Boulevard since 2006, closed after the building sold to a partnership to Michael Comras and Forte Capital Management. – Katherine Kallergis

TRD Researcher Eda Kouch contributed to this story. 

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