More dining options are in the works for Miami Beach residents and visitors near Lincoln Road, with Time Out Market, a gourmet food hall, opening soon.
The city’s planning board on Tuesday approved a conditional use permit for 420 Lincoln Road Development LLC to operate a Time Out Market at 1601 Drexel Avenue, on the ground floor of a parking garage built in 2012, just around the corner from Lincoln Road.
The building is owned by Paul Cejas, who moved to Miami from Cuba in the 1960s and founded one of the country’s largest Hispanic-owned businesses, CareFlorida Health Systems, which was bought out by Foundation Health for $250 million in 1994. Cejas, who served as U.S. ambassador to Belgium in the Clinton Administration, owns several properties on Miami Beach including 420 Lincoln Road, which has tenants such as Zara, McDonald’s and Starbucks.
Rendering of Time Out Market
The parking garage and retail space designed by Enrique Norten were built in 2012 but the retail space has remained vacant, with Cejas turning down numerous offers from prospective tenants until he was approached by Time Out, according to his proposal.
The project as presented to the planning board will feature an open hall with communal tables and about a dozen food stalls serving gourmet fare. Pop-up restaurants will also be featured on a regular basis.
The building is zoned CD-3 which allows for commercial high density. But it sits across from residential buildings zoned RM-1 and several local residents expressed concerns about closing times, outdoor seating and the type of entertainment that will be featured when the Time Out Market opens. Adam Shedroff, whose family has owned rental property on Drexel Avenue since the 1930s, expressed specific concerns about patrons loitering outside after closing times. Several board members said they shared those concerns.
Planning board members said their approval was based on restricting outdoor seating to 120 seats, leaving 7 feet of sidewalk space free, as well as prohibiting outdoor speaker usage and live musical performances, and requiring that indoor music be kept to “ambient levels.” Hours of operation will be restricted to up to 11 p.m. for outdoor seating on Friday and Saturday with a 2 a.m. indoor weekend closing time. Outdoor seating will be up to 10 p.m. during weekdays with a midnight indoor closing time.