Five new tenants are joining Coral Gables in early 2020. More will follow.
A slew of retailers, including new faces to Florida, will grace downtown Coral Gables in 2020.
A total of 14 retailers will open in the City Beautiful between Douglas and Le Jeune roads in and around Miracle Mile, the city’s major retail thoroughfare, according to the Coral Gables Business Improvement District Executive Director Taciana Amador.
Some have already opened, while others will open in the spring.
“Folks are excited about the Gables,” said Amador. “It’s not the same Gables prior to the Streetscape.”
Five tenants will join the neighborhood by April:
▪ The Mediterranean restaurant Tur Kitchen opened in mid-January at 259 Giralda Ave. It occupies about 2,300 square feet.
▪ De La Gallery, offering original photographs and framing, will operate 850 square feet at 290 Miracle Mile, near the Actors Playhouse, by February. Artist and photographer Jorge de la Torriente and master framer Jeffrey Rodriguez will test the Coral Gables market after opening their first location in Key West and, most recently, another in South Carolina.
▪ Chef Jorge Ramos will open the wood-fired grill Cebada in April at 116 Giralda Ave. Ramos, the chef behind the recently closed American Brasserie Barley, will occupy a slice of the 1,700-square-foot space.
▪ La Sandwicherie will operate 4,855 square feet at 142 Giralda Ave. in April. The French bakery first opened in Miami Beach in 1988.
▪ The Italian gourmet restaurant Piuma will open in April at 116 Giralda Ave., neighboring Cebada, and will occupy some of the 1,700-square-foot former office building.
Other retailers will join the neighborhood later in the year, according to Amador, including a new concept by GreenLife Organic Bistro, Bank United, Buenos Aires Bistro, Freddo Gelato, restaurant La Glace, Roman Jones’ The Gramercy, the Spanish restaurant chain Rodilla, Italian tapas concept Segafredo and D.C.-based salad chain Sweetgreen.
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De La Gallery will be part of a new pop-up program launched by the city as a pipeline to introduce new businesses to the area every year, said City of Coral Gables Business Development Coordinator Francesca Madeo Valdes.
“The idea is to foster a retail environment here,” Madeo Valdes said.
The city plans to sign a six-month lease for the gallery space at 290 Miracle Mile, with a six-month renewal option to be determined by the fourth month of business. The business owner pays 15 percent of sales plus $1,000 per month on the lease. After a year, Madeo Valdes hopes each business owner will search for a permanent location in Coral Gables.
A business owner looking to lease in central Coral Gables would pay $45.45 per square foot, according to a January 2020 retail report by analytics company CoStar Group.
“This program allows us to test a market that we otherwise wouldn’t be able to test as a small business,” said de la Torriente, co-owner of the gallery.
He is used to paying about $8,000 per month in rent in Key West and in South Carolina for similar square footage.
Pop-up stores continue to grow in popularity across the country as well as in Miami. In 2019, about 2,500 temporary Halloween stores opened across the country — an 80% increase from 10 years ago, when 1,400 stores opened, according to a Cushman & Wakefield report published in December.
The completion of the Streetscape project in 2018 is encouraging more tenants to join the retail community, said Amador.
The City of Coral Gables invested $24 million of taxpayer money to renovate the streets of Miracle Mile and create Giralda Plaza, a pedestrian-only corridor. Construction started in 2016. City officials encouraged restaurants to offer al fresco dining and coordinate social events, such as the Umbrella Project and Umbrella Sky on Giralda Plaza, to help increase foot traffic.
“Now people can offer outdoor dining on Giralda,” Amador said. “That’s one factor drawing new tenants in.”
