Aerie’s first standalone store in South Florida to open on Lincoln Road in bebe’s current site

Aerie, a lingerie retailer owned by American Eagle, has signed a lease to open its first standalone store in South Florida on Miami Beach’s Lincoln Road, The Real Deal has learned.

Aerie will occupy 4,454 square feet at 900 Lincoln Road in a building that is currently home to retailer bebe, which is closing its stores throughout the country. Aerie’s lease will begin in July, and it plans to open in late summer, Aaron J. Butler, president and CEO of Avenue Real Estate Partners told TRD. Butler and Steve Asch represented Aerie in the 10-year lease. Butler declined to provide additional terms.

Steven Gombinski, the president of the Lincoln Road Business Improvement District, owns the 900 Lincoln Road building, and renovated it in 2015. Property records show he paid $235,000 for the building at the corner of Jefferson Avenue in 1985. 

Aerie targets female millennials and teenagers, and the retailer was looking for a flagship location on Lincoln Road near the American Eagle store at 825-829 Lincoln, Butler said. The brand is mostly offered as a “shop-in-shop” inside American Eagle stores.

The new lease is the latest on the pedestrian promenade, which has experienced more vacancies and a slowdown in leasing activity in recent months. Brokers have said asking rates, which had soared to as high as $350 per square foot or more, have declined to $275 to $325.

Other stores, including Steve Madden and Haagen-Dazs have recently signed leases, at 663 Lincoln and 665 Lincoln, respectively, in a building owned by New York-based Thor Equities. The asking rents were $300 per square foot, a Thor spokesman told TRD.

“We really feel that the activity on Lincoln Road has started to come back, especially with the opening of the Nike store,” Butler said. “And we are seeing a lot of retailers revisit the road, which is great, and the anticipation of the the new convention center and the James Corner plan we feel will be a major catalyst to bring Lincoln Road to the next level.”

In addition to Aerie, Butler represents Uniqlo, which has long been looking for a site on Lincoln Road. He also handles leasing for David Edelstein’s TriStar Capital, who owns 800 Lincoln and 500 Lincoln, as well as Paul Cejas, who owns 420 Lincoln.