Rivani Purchases Historic Miami Beach Building Leased To H&M For $37M

Robert Rivani is expanding his reach in Miami Beach, purchasing a 90-year-old art deco building in the city’s most iconic pedestrian shopping district.

Rivani purchased the Lincoln Theater, a retail building largely occupied by H&M, for $37M, his eponymous company announced Tuesday.

Clifford Stein, who restored the aging theater into a shopping hub with his Miami Beach-based company, Savitar Realty Advisors, told Bisnow in a phone call that while Rivani wasn’t the highest bidder, he was the perfect choice.

“I hand-picked him from people who have had an expressed interest in the property,” Stein said. “I thought he would probably be the best person to see the vision through for the project.”

The 35K SF, three-story Lincoln Theater at 551 Lincoln Road opened in 1936 as a movie theater, when cinema began to flourish in the "Golden Age of Hollywood," between the 1920s and 1960s.

It hosted movie premieres into the early 1980s, but by 1988, New World Symphony, co-founded by couple Ted and Lin Arison and musician Michael Tilson, leased the space and used it as a practice space.

New World purchased the building in 1990 and renovated it for nearly $1M to host classical concerts with a capacity of 713 seats.

Twenty years later, Stein purchased the property from the symphony for $21M, according to property records. He then renovated it and restored it to its cinema glory days inside and out before New World had gutted it, as required by the Historic Preservation Board, Stein said.

"I was happy to do it because it really is iconic," Stein said.

Pulling from old photographs and original newspaper clippings from the 1930s, Stein recreated the original movie screen and the drapes that frame it, the marquee that projects onto the road, a historic fountain and an original water fountain that was covered up, he said.

The building, originally designed by theater architect Thomas Lamb, was named one of Florida's top 100 buildings by the state chapter of the American Institute of Architects. 

“It really comes out of the pages of whenever movie theaters came alive,” Stein said.

Now, after 15 years of owning it, he has decided to sell for a tidy profit, nearly doubling what he paid.

“It was difficult, bittersweet for me because it was something that, probably of all the projects I have done — I have an active presence in seven states — this is one of the ones at the top of my list I am most proud of,” Stein said.

He worked hard to not only restore it to its original essence as a theater, but to revamp it into a retail hub. H&M now occupies 84% of the building, with Swatch and Tapelia Spanish Cuisine also signed as tenants.

The Rivani release listed Brazilian sunglasses and wristwatch brand Chilli Beans as a tenant, but Google lists the store as permanently closed. Chilli Beans closed after struggling to compete with Swatch, and while the retailer is still paying rent, it is looking to be replaced in the future, Stein said.

Right before the deal closed, Myka Greek Frozen Yogurt signed on as a tenant, bringing the building to 100% leased at the time of the sale, Stein said.

Rivani, who rebranded his development firm from Black Lion Investment Group to Rivani, has no current plans to change or redevelop the Lincoln Theater in the near future due to the property being fully leased, a spokesperson said.

The company is undertaking a $100M renovation of The Lincoln on Miami Beach into a boutique, ultraluxury office building dubbed Rivani Miami Beach, where it landed Playboy Inc. as an office tenant earlier this month.

“This is one of the most iconic properties on Lincoln Road and has the potential to reignite the area as the cultural heartbeat of the city,” Rivani said in a statement. “Our continued investment in Miami Beach is a strategic commitment to its long-term future, and 551 Lincoln is a cornerstone of our vision to make Lincoln Road great again.”

Stein said the timing of the deal made sense because the city is going through a new phase of development.

At the Miami Beach Convention Center, Terra Group and Turnberry landed nearly $400M in April to build an 800-room hotel, the Grand Hyatt Miami Beach. This is expected to bring more foot traffic to the Lincoln Road corridor, which is a seven-minute walk away.

The City of Miami Beach has also adopted a redevelopment plan for the Lincoln Road pedestrian mall by redoing pedestrian surfaces and crosswalks, new lighting, new street furniture and a fertilization system for the trees that line the street.

“What better time to pass the baton to someone like Rivani, an innovator, right at the cusp of everything that is happening over the next couple of years,” Stein said.