MIAMI BEACH, Fla. — There’s a new boost to the iconic Lincoln Road on Miami Beach: a $29.4 million upgrade that includes projects on Meridian and Drexel Avenues.
“We’re so excited that this is happening,” said Lincoln Road Business Improvement District Executive Director Anabel Llopis.
The work includes landscaping, a pedestrian promenade and a mini amphitheater.
“It gives a lot of the adjacent businesses a little more room to create sidewalk cafes,” said David Gomez, the director of Miami Beach’s capital improvement projects department. “This project should bring us back to Lincoln Road’s heyday.”
Lincoln Road has seen its share of empty storefronts ― and some locals say, a drop in the “cool” factor.
LINCOLN ROAD
- 1912: Carved from mangroves by Carl Fisher and named for Abraham Lincoln.
- 1940s: Emerged as the “Fifth Avenue of the South” with marquee retailers.
- 1950s: Morris Lapidus remade it as one of the first open-air pedestrian malls in the United States.
- 1980s: Artists and Art Center South Florida (now Oolite Arts) sparked a revival.
- Today: National Register district with landmark architecture and tropical plantings.
Noah Sibibe said he came to South Florida on vacation fifteen years ago from London and never left.
He still shops on Lincoln Road, but has noticed a decrease in foot traffic.
“When I first came, it was a lot better than it is now,” he said.
“We don’t think it’s lost its edge. We think it’s cool anyway,” Llopis said. “Something’s always happening on Lincoln Road.”
Llopis also said people don’t always see what’s happening behind the scenes of storefronts with “for lease” signs, and that negotiations are in the works for notable restaurants like Negroni to take residence.
Full interview: Anabel Llopis
“How do you get the eclectic mom-and-pop local places to come back?” asked Local 10’s Janine Stanwood. “We’ve heard from so many that rents are so high.”
“You know, we have probably ― a good 35% of our tenants are mom-and-pops,” Llopis said.
Habitat Hyett is one of those locally owned stores. Worker Rebecca Rodriguez said the business is hoping to bring back that artistic feel.
“We’re really trying to be one of the pillars in the community here,” she said.
The project is a scaled-down version of a more expansive and expensive revitalization of Lincoln Road proposed a decade ago. This current phase is expected to be complete in about 10 months.
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