Lime Fresh Mexican Grill is expanding.
The Miami Beach-born restaurant concept is heading to five new spaces in South Florida, broker Michael Silverman told The Real Deal. Silverman and Jeff Evans, both of the Comras Company, brokered the leases in Midtown Miami, North Miami, Dania Pointe, West Palm Beach and Palm Beach Gardens.
In 2015, Rubio’s Restaurants acquired eight corporate Lime restaurants from Ruby Tuesday Inc. and later converted them to Rubio’s, including locations in downtown Miami, Midtown Miami, North Miami Beach, Fort Lauderdale and Coconut Creek. Ruby Tuesday then sold Lime, which included the franchising rights, last year for $4.6 million to Everfresh Endeavors for $4.6 million.
Franchisee Grant Gussin of Left Field Holdings LLC, has the rights to operate Lime restaurants in Miami-Dade for the next five years, he said. He currently owns and operates the Downtown Dadeland, West Kendall and Doral locations, and just signed two leases for Midtown and North Miami.
David Pettit and Nick Boros are the Lime franchisees in Broward and Palm Beach counties, Evans said. They signed deals at Dania Pointe, opening in 2019; Palm Beach Marketplace, opening in about nine months; and Northlake Place, which will open in about three months.
The five new South Florida leases are 10-year deals for spaces ranging from about 2,200 square feet to 2,600 square feet, plus patios. Asking rents ranged from $45 a foot to $60 per square foot, triple net, Silverman said. That comes out to between $99,000 to $150,000.
Gussin told TRD that he would like to open about five more Limes, and is looking at areas like Brickell, South Beach, Pinecrest/Palmetto Bay and Miami International Airport. “There aren’t that many locations in my mind that warrant the investment,” he said, adding that the concept’s requirement of outdoor seating makes it more difficult to find spaces. A new Lime restaurant costs up to $800,000 to build out, Gussin said.
Rubio’s, which is known for its fish tacos, has taken over Lime’s former Midtown space and Lime will be reopening under Gussin’s ownership at Midtown Five, a newly completed apartment building at 125 Northeast 32nd Street. He plans to open at Midtown Five this summer, and North Miami by the beginning of next year.
The North Miami location will be part of a new retail building at 12000 Biscayne Boulevard with Starbucks, Mattress Firm and European Wax Center. Gadinsky Real Estate‘s Seth Gadinsky and Justin Schultz are managing the redevelopment and leasing of the ground floor space of an existing eight-story, 146,000-square-foot building that’s being converted into retail. The site is across the street from a Whole Foods.
Asking rent at the North Miami building is $45 per square foot, triple net, with about 2,300 square feet still available, Schultz said.
Rubio’s also opened in the former Lime space on 148th Street and Biscayne. “You have the ability to draw on a lot of residential there on 120th that you don’t on 148th,” Gussin said.