Michael Comras, through his firm Comras Company, has acquired a group of retail properties on Lincoln Road in Miami Beach for $140 million, according to a source familiar with the transaction. Although Comras did not confirm the purchase price, details were provided to The Real Deal.
The acquisition includes 11 storefronts located at 600, 719–737, 741, and 801–821 Lincoln Road as well as 723 North Lincoln Lane. Financing for the purchase came from a $117 million loan provided by Acore Capital based in San Francisco.
Morgan Stanley, headquartered in New York, was the previous owner of these properties. The company had bought them in 2014 as part of a larger portfolio deal worth $342 million from Terranova, which kept an ownership stake.
Current tenants of these properties include The Cheesecake Factory, Salt & Straw, It’Sugar and Lincoln Eatery.
Comras plans to redevelop the site into NoLi—a boutique shopping district spanning approximately 150,000 square feet. The project will feature Via NoLi—an 18-foot-wide pedestrian paseo through the 700 block that connects to North Lincoln Lane and is planned to have boutique shops and culinary spots. Additional features will include NoLi Plaza with café seating, a central fountain and greenery; North Lincoln Lane will be turned into a pedestrian walkway with expanded sidewalks and outdoor seating areas. Retail spaces are expected to range between about 400 and 4,000 square feet.
The portfolio was previously under contract to be sold to another buyer—the Cohen family behind Duane Reade drugstores—for over $150 million. However, this deal did not close because they could not secure financing or an equity partner.
Comras Company was founded in 1992 and also operates a leasing brokerage division. According to its website, it owns other nearby properties including locations at 701 and 734-744 Lincoln Road. Tenants at these sites include Aldo, Swarovski and Hoka.
In addition to this recent purchase, Comras sold another block on Lincoln Road (1001-1035) in 2015 for $370 million to Pontegadea—the family office of Spanish billionaire Amancio Ortega.
Lincoln Road has experienced challenges recently due to competition from new retail destinations like Miami Design District and Wynwood. Many national tenants have left for these newer locations resulting in vacant storefronts; even the Regal South Beach movie theater has closed. Despite this downturn, landlords and brokers report that occupancy rates average around 77 percent with new tenants preparing some vacant spaces for use.
