Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Worth Avenue, Lincoln Road among top retail hotspots
The streets rank fifth and eighth, respectively, for most expensive in terms of rent per square foot per year
Miami Beach’s Lincoln Road and Palm Beach’s Worth Avenue have been ranked among the most expensive retail districts in the Western Hemisphere, according to Cushman & Wakefield’s 2017 Main Streets Across the World retail report.
The two retail streets rank fifth and eighth respectively for most expensive in terms of rent per square foot per year.
Topping this year’s list was New York’s Upper Fifth Avenue district followed by Beverly Hills’ Rodeo Drive and Union Square in San Francisco.
Despite the increase in closures of big retail stores and shopping malls around the country, the more personalized experience of shopping in “main street” areas seems to continue to draw the interests of shoppers.
These areas have ditched traditional retail shopping trends for a mixed variety of retail, office and residential spaces as well as a variety of restaurants and other locations providing services such as personal care, banking and residential real estate transactions.
Lincoln Road Mall is a mile-long walkway for pedestrians that runs east to west between 16th and 17th streets in Miami Beach.
In the 1950s, the area was completely closed to traffic and redesigned by Morris Lapidus, best known for his “Miami modern” hotel projects, including the Fontainebleau Hotel, Eden Roc Miami Beach Hotel and Deauville Resort.
“There’s no place else in South Florida where you can have the experience of smelling the [nearby] salt water, shop, eat, drink and people watch,” said Greg Masin, a senior director in Cushman & Wakefield’s Miami office.
Worth Avenue in Palm Beach is a venerable, upscale shopping and dining district that stretches four blocks to the Atlantic Ocean. The area became known for its highquality merchandise in the 1920s and today has over a combination of over 250 shops, galleries and restaurants.
“Families have shopped on the avenue for generations and generations,” said Robert Klecinsky, a director at Cushman & Wakefield’s Palm Beach office. “You walk into a store and people will remember your name and what you purchased last.”
Both men credit the successes of Lincoln Road and Worth Avenue to catering to what works best for each location.
Tourists visiting Miami-Dade County flock to the 10-block Lincoln Road shopping location for the variety of trendy stores and outdoor activities, including farmers markets, morning yoga and outdoor concerts. The ultrawealthy Palm Beach clientele is attracted by Worth Avenue’s exclusiveness as well as the personalized shopping experience of boutique stores.
Fort Lauderdale is looking to jump into the high-end mix as the city and developers seek to revitalize its famous four-block shopping district — Las Olas Boulevard.
The Las Olas Company, Barron Real Estate and Hudson Capital Group — the three major commercial property owners on Las Olas — have hired investor-developer Michael Comras to help pump life back into the area.