NY celebrity chef inks lease to open restaurant on Washington Avenue

New York celebrity chef Lawrence Page, star of the reality TV show “Hustle & Soul,” just signed a lease to bring his Pink Tea Cup restaurant to Miami Beach’s Washington Avenue, The Real Deal has learned.

Page is leasing 5,500 square feet at 1542 Washington Avenue, which will mark the second location for his Brooklyn-based restaurant, according to Fortune International Realty’s Wolfgang Herz and Ricardo Du Pond, who brokered the deal. Du Pond declined to disclose lease terms.

The eatery, known for its soul food, is expected to open in late December or early January.

Property records show the owner of the building is 1542 Washington LLC, led by Ronald Firman of Miami and Martin Burns of Las Vegas. The entity paid $5.25 million for the property in 2014.

The two-story restaurant was recently fully built out, but has been vacant, and has a 3,000 square-foot exterior courtyard, according to the brokers.

Washington Avenue is experiencing a wave of redevelopment, amid the city’s approval of new measures designed to increase hotel space and retail and dining opportunities on the street, which has lagged behind Lincoln Road and Ocean Drive in attracting first-tier retail, dining and hotel venues.

New projects planned include Moxy South Beach, a seven-story, 202-room boutique hotel to replace aging storefronts at 915-947 Washington Avenue; a micro hotel to be developed by Miami Beach developer Andrew Joblon and New York-based Imperial Companies at 601-685 Washington Avenue; and a mixed-use project with a parking garage, hotel and retail components at 900 Washington Avenue, to be developed by Robert Finvarb and Michael Simkins.