Michael Schwartz is grabbing a slice of Meridian Center.
The chef’s popular Harry’s Pizzeria just signed a lease to open a new eatery at the building, just off Lincoln Road in Miami Beach, The Real Deal has learned.
The pizzeria will occupy 2,500 square feet at 1680 Meridian Avenue, according to Koniver Stern Group’s Lyle Stern, who represented Market Street Real Estate Partners, the owners of the ground-floor units. The space is one of two formerly occupied by Keller Williams Realty and South Beach International Realty.
Stern declined to disclose financial terms of the lease. Gary Rosenberg of Rosenberg Realty represented Harry’s Pizzeria.
Harry’s has been looking for a location near Lincoln Road for some time, Stern said. It currently has three locations, in the Miami Design District, Coconut Grove and at Downtown Dadeland. Schwartz plans to expand to Aventura, Sunrise, Atlanta and Cleveland.
Sara Wolfe of Koniver Stern said Miami Beach has approved opening the storefront at 1680 Meridian Avenue and creating a raised patio for outdoor seating. The restaurant is slated to open in a year.
Shops and restaurants have been increasingly expanding to the side streets off Lincoln Road in recent years, attracted in part by lower rents. Williams-Sonoma and Pottery Barn opened this spring at 1691 Michigan Avenue. Marshalls also launched its new store at Terranova Corp.’s 723 Lincoln Lane, above the future site of a ground-floor food hall. And Anthropologie is expected to open its new store at Terranova’s 801 Lincoln Road later this month.
Also in the works: an extension of 1111 Lincoln Road along Lenox Avenue that has been fully leased to five tenants: Rosetta Bakery, the coffee shop La Colombe, the apparel retailer Alchemist, the gift shop Jo Malone — which just opened — and Chotto Matte, a restaurant chain based in London.
Lincoln Road is set to receive a facelift that will include enlarging sidewalks and planting trees along the pedestrian promenade and enhancing the adjoining streets — all part of the Lincoln Road Master Plan designed by James Corner Field Operations. The Miami Beach Convention Center is also undergoing a renovation and an expansion.