Major Food Group and Boucher Brothers are pressing ahead with plans to redevelop a Miami Beach entertainment venue on city-owned land even as the current operator is still fighting to hold onto its ground lease.
The joint venture will go before the Miami Beach Design Review Board Thursday, seeking the green light for a complete reconstruction of Nikki Beach, a waterfront restaurant and club at 1 Ocean Drive.
Three years ago, the Miami Beach City Commission awarded a new concessions agreement for the 3.6-acre site to Miami Beach-based Boucher, led by Steven Boucher, and New York-based Major Food Group, led by Mario Carbone, Rich Torrisi and Jeff Zalaznick.
Under the 10-year deal, the joint venture projects it will pay Miami Beach $41 million over the life of the agreement.
The design review is part of a short list of land use and zoning changes the two firms are seeking to replace the two-story building. The joint venture is planning Major Beach, a mixed-use project that would feature dining spots and bars, outdoor areas, a pool, retail pavilion, upgraded cabanas, a children’s center, a wellness space and a public restroom building adjacent to the site, according to a letter of intent and renderings filed with the city.
In February, the Miami Beach Planning Board recommended approval to allow the city-owned site to be used for a private enterprise as required by the city’s resiliency code. Final approval is required by the Miami Beach City Commission.
Major Food Group — best known for creating the celebrity-favorite Italian eatery Carbone, along with Sadelle’s, Contessa and ZZ’s Club — is slated to run the food and beverage program. Major Beach would include a Sadelle’s Café overlooking the boardwalk, a Mediterranean restaurant, and Japanese teppanyaki dining rooms among the culinary offerings, plans show.
Under Miami Beach’s resiliency criteria, the project is required to include stormwater retention systems, hurricane-impact glazing, salt-tolerant Florida-friendly landscaping, and design features accommodating future elevation of adjacent streets.
However, the joint venture’s plan could be delayed, and possibly derailed, by a pending lawsuit against the city by Penrod Brothers, led by Lucia Penrod, which operates Nikki Beach under a ground lease dating back to the 1980s when her late husband, Jack Penrod, opened the venue under his name. In 1998, the Penrods changed the name in honor of his daughter Nicole, who died in a car crash the previous year. Jack Penrod died last year.
Penrod Brothers’ ground lease is set to expire in May. In its complaint, the company alleges city officials violated Miami Beach’s procurement regulations in denying Penrod Brothers the opportunity to compete for the concessions agreement won by Boucher and Major Food Group.
In 2023, city officials faced public outcry over perceived favoritism for the joint venture when the Miami Beach City Commission initially voted to negotiate a no-bid deal with Boucher and Major Food Group. Commissioners subsequently reversed their decision after a wave of backlash and voted for a competitive bid process that Boucher and Major Food Group still won.