View of Lincoln Road Mall from Meridian Ave looking east.
At first glance, Lincoln Road keeps drawing crowds as a top shopping and dining destination in Miami Beach.
But the 10-block stretch running east-west between Alton Road and Washington Avenue, officially Lincoln Road Mall, is losing steam, market metrics show.
Boris Kozolchyk.
The retail vacancy rate was 8.5 percent in 2016, higher than the 5.4 percent the previous year, and it climbed this year to 13 percent, according to Colliers International South Florida. Net absorption has been negative since 2014, down 46,803 square feet in 2016 and it’s down 1,983 square feet so far this year.
“It’s basically telling you that more people left than came in,” said Boris Kozolchyk, Colliers executive vice president of retail services in Miami.
To be clear, retail experts say Lincoln Road is still a thriving pedestrian promenade.
