Miami Beach blocks Nikki Beach Club owners from bidding on new contract

Miami Beach claims a deadline snafu is blocking Nikki Beach Club’s owners from competing for a new contract to continue operating their restaurant and entertainment venue on city-owned land.

City staff rejected a bid by Jack and Lucia Penrod aimed at retaining control of the property at 1 Ocean Drive when their current lease expires in 2026, the Miami Herald reported. The couple’s entity, Penrod Brothers, allegedly failed to submit its bid documents through an online portal by a 3 p.m. deadline last Thursday.  

The city of Miami Beach accepted four other bids from Boucher Brothers; Restoration Hardware; Akerman and The Group US Management LLC; and Tao Group Hospitality and One Ocean Hospitality LLC, according to an online agenda for a Miami Beach committee evaluating the proposals. The four teams are scheduled to make their pitches to the committee next Monday. 

City officials informed attorneys from the law firm Stearns Weaver Miller, representing the Penrods, that they submitted their client’s proposal 15 minutes after the deadline, and refused to accept their bid protest, the Miami Herald reported. 

Uncertainty about the future of Nikki Beach Club, an oceanfront weekend mainstay for decades in the city’s South of Fifth neighborhood, has swirled in recent months. In Late April, Miami Beach city commissioners authorized City Manager Alina Hudak to enter into a no-bid, non-binding term sheet with Boucher Brothers to take over the two-story building from the Penrods when the couple’s deal ends in three years. 

Boucher Brothers, which provides beach concessions under a separate city contract, had planned to partner with Major Food Group on the proposal.

In May, the city commission voted to reverse its decision after it was inundated with complaints from Miami Beach residents that elected officials were showing Boucher Brothers political favoritism. 

The Penrods also accused Miami Beach officials of political favoritism in a Miami-Dade civil lawsuit against the city and Boucher Brothers that was dismissed last month. During the discovery phase of the complaint, the Penrods unearthed text messages from Mayor Dan Gelber and Commissioner Ricky Arriola seeking small favors from executives of Boucher Brothers and Major Food Group. 

— Francisco Alvarado