Miami’s second Trader Joe’s to open in new South Beach building in 2018

Updated, 4:45 p.m., Feb. 6: Trader Joe’s is finally heading to South Beach in a new building planned for Alton Road and West Avenue, The Real Deal has learned.

Attorney Mickey Marrero announced the tenant at a Miami Beach Design Review Board meeting on Monday. The store will mark the first in Miami Beach for the popular California-based grocer and the second in Miami-Dade. It’s slated to open during the second half of 2018 and will lease 11,500 square feet at 17 West, Trader Joe’s confirmed on Monday. 

A partnership between Rock Soffer of Turnberry Associates, Elion Partners and members of the Sredni family will break ground later this month on a five-story, mixed-use project with ground floor retail, loft-style apartments and a parking garage. It’s slated to be completed by next summer, Soffer told TRD.

Two levels of public parking will be above the retail space in one of the two connecting buildings. The fourth and fifth floors will have two-story, three-bedroom townhomes, in addition to one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments. Amenities for the residents will include a pool, fitness center and private parking. Turnberry, which is handling leasing and development of 17 West, is looking for “neighborhood-friendly” retail and restaurants to lease the remaining space, Soffer said. He declined to provide asking rents for the retail and apartments.

About 160 parking spaces will be set aside for the public.

The design review board on Monday approved design changes and one variance for the project, at 1698 Alton Road and 1681-1683 West Avenue, that will incorporate fresh-air intake valves and an agreement to modify the building’s green roof concept as proposed. The developer withdrew a request for a variance that would have reduced the width of a two-way driveway.

The building, designed by Touzet Studio with Stantec, won design approval in May for 28,142 square feet of retail space, 36 residential units and about 200 parking spaces. Records show the developer bought the the land for a combined $15.9 million between 2013 and 2015. Turnberry founder Don Soffer is also listed on corporate records for the LLCs.

Trader Joe’s has been described in public documents as a “prominent grocer tenant.” The grocer, which has its other Miami-Dade location in Pinecrest, will have its crew members design the artwork for the Miami Beach store, as it does with all of its locations, said Marrero, a partner in Bercow Radell Fernandez & Larkin.

The grocery store has been trying to get into the Miami Beach market for a long time, Soffer told TRD. He declined to name terms of the deal.

In South Florida, Trader Joe’s is also located in Pembroke Pines, Boca Raton, Delray Beach, Palm Beach Gardens, Wellington, Fort Lauderdale and Davie. On average, it typically leases between 10,000 square feet and 15,000 square feet.

In Miami Beach, it will join a Whole Foods planned for the Crescent Heights development on Alton and 19th Street, and an existing Epicure Market at 1656 Alton Road.