Wexler family wants $5M per year for Lincoln Road corner lease

200 Lincoln Road and Robert Wexler (Credit: Getty Images)
200 Lincoln Road and Robert Wexler (Credit: Getty Images)

Lincoln Road’s notorious Alvin’s Island beachwear shop could be headed for the wrecking ball.

The Wexler family is offering Alvin’s home at 200 Lincoln Road as a long-term land lease, opening the door for possible redevelopment.

Alvin’s is the largest of three buildings on the Wexler family’s Lincoln Road property, which together take up 29,448 square feet of land. According to marketing materials from brokerage Koniver Stern Group, first reported by the Next Miami, the land has zoning for up to 80,000 square feet of commercial development and heights of 100 feet. That could mean an office, retail or hotel project, though Koniver Stern agent Kerry Newman told The Real Deal that a residential development likely wouldn’t be financially viable.

He said the ownership is looking for $5 million per year for a minimum term of 75 years. The asking rate breaks down to just below $170 per foot of land, or $62.50 per developable square foot. He said the family is not interested in an outright sale, despite receiving numerous offers over the years.

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The reason 200 Lincoln Road is being offered for lease is because Alvin’s lease, which covers all three buildings, expires in April 2019. Because garnering approvals for a project can be a years-long process, striking a deal now would leave a developer ready to break ground once the existing lease is up.

It’s unclear for how long the Wexlers have owned 200 Lincoln Road. The family is known for its ownership of luxury watch retailer Tourneau, which they acquired in 1975. Tourneau was later sold to an investment group for more than $300 million in 2006, according to published reports, though the family kept a piece of its ownership as part of the deal.

Lincoln Road, once a hotbed for investment activity and eye-popping leases, has begun to cool off in recent months amid a changing retail industry. A recent report from Cushman & Wakefield shows rents for the street have been flat since 2015 — a trend the brokerage expects will continue for the near future.