The first Real Madrid Café in the United States will open at Met Square in downtown Miami, the Spanish soccer brand announced on Thursday.
The 12,000-square-foot, two-story facility at 340 Southeast Third Street will feature a restaurant, bar, Real Madrid-themed merchandise store and a VIP Lounge. It is expected to open in early 2018.
The space will include 4,000 square feet on the ground level and 8,000 square feet on the second level on the southeast corner of Met Square overlooking the historic Indian Circle, Lyle Stern, president of the Koniver Stern Group, told The Real Deal.
Stern brokered the lease on behalf of MDM Group, the developer of Met Square.
“Heres a global brand, the most important soccer franchise out there, and they look around North America to launch this new restaurant concept, and they examined so many markets and they chose Miami….” Stern said. “For Miami, Real Madrid is a great statement, and for downtown Miami and Brickell and Met Miami in particular, it’s fantastic.”
Kevin Lurie, principal of Creative Realty Group, LLC, represented Real Madrid Café in the deal.
Real Madrid is one of the world’s most valuable soccer clubs, worth $3.58 billion, according to Forbes. It is also among the highest revenue-generating teams, bringing in $688 million in the 2016-2017 season.
American Franchise Group, which has a partnership agreement with Real Madrid throughout the Americas, plans to bring the Real Madrid Café brand to other cities during the next five years, and is in the process of identifying locations, according to a release.
Met Square is expected to be delivered this fall, Stern said. It is the final phase of Metropolitan Miami, which includes Met 1, a 447-unit, 40-story luxury residential tower that will feature Novikov Bar & Grill; Met 2, which is the Wells Fargo Center, a 47-story, 752,000-square-foot Class ‘A’ office tower and adjoined 41-story JW Marriott Marquis Miami and Hotel Beaux Arts Miami; Met 3, the Whole Foods, parking garage and luxury residential tower by Zom, as well as the under-development Met Square.
In addition to the Real Madrid Café, Met Square will feature a Silverspot Cinema, additional restaurants, retail outlets and residences.