The fence around Brickell Park at 25 SE 10th Street went up this summer. Behind it, Allen Morris Companies plans Gavina, a 3,000-square-foot restaurant with Stefano Secchi, the chef behind Michelin-starred Rezdôra in Manhattan. The Real Deal reported that the City of Miami approved the restaurant as a temporary use. The developer's own attorney says the restaurant is not the end plan for the parcel.
A block away on South Miami Avenue, restaurants are opening, moving and closing at a pace that matches what landlords now charge for Brickell space.
The Permit Comes With an End Date
According to The Real Deal, the City of Miami approved the Gavina permit in April 2026 with these terms:
- Initial term: one year as a food service establishment
- Renewals: annually by the zoning administrator, for up to three years
- Anything longer: requires City Commission approval
- Occupancy cap: 132 people, employees and guests combined
- Hours allowed: daily, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.
Javier Fernandez, the developer's attorney, told the outlet he expects the restaurant to run for "the better part of the next five years." Even with every renewal the zoning administrator can grant, the permit falls short of five years. Running that long would take City Commission approval for the extra time.
The August report gave no opening date, and when The Real Deal asked about the cuisine, Fernandez did not immediately respond.
How a Park Becomes a Restaurant Site
The 7,780-square-foot park is one of the few patches of mature trees left among Brickell's high-rises. Its history explains the fence. As The Real Deal recounts, the late L. Allen Morris Sr. donated the land to the city in 1974 on the condition that it stay a public park. If it were used for anything else, ownership would revert to his family.
The family's company sued the city in 2014 over the now-closed Perricone's Marketplace & Cafe operating on portions of the park. An appeals court sided with the developer in 2023, and the city then settled, transferring the property back and rezoning it. Current zoning allows buildings up to 48 stories, plus up to 32 more in exchange for qualifying public benefits, for a maximum of 80 stories.
That height is why the restaurant is temporary. Residents have questioned whether Gavina's building will eventually become a sales center for a tower. The question came from a rendering labeled "Brickell Park – Future Supertall Sales Center." Fernandez's answer to The Real Deal was direct:
"The restaurant is not the final plan. Certainly there is an interest in doing something else with the parcel."
He added that a sales center is "not imminent" but "not off the table." He also said the restaurant would preserve much of the mature canopy and open the property to the public with landscaped space around the building. Locals appealed the tree removal permit, and the permit remains in place.
For anyone who walks past the site, then, the trees, the dining room and the open space all depend on one parcel whose long-term use has not been decided. Gavina is a placeholder.
One Block Over, a Rent Benchmark
The Real Deal's August report put a number on what permanent space nearby costs. In late July 2026, the Japanese restaurant OMAKAI moved out of its spot in the Solaris condo tower. It signed a lease for 2,500 square feet at 1108 South Miami Avenue, about a block from the park, at $120 per square foot.
That works out to about $300,000 a year in base rent before anyone cooks a plate. Industry broker Felix Bendersky told The Real Deal in June that a common benchmark caps rent at 10 percent of projected sales. By that rule, a room like OMAKAI's needs roughly $3 million in annual sales to stay within the guideline. Bendersky also put the average restaurant's net margin at 3 percent.
His wider numbers show how fast the floor has moved. South Florida restaurant rents that once sat around $60 per square foot have climbed above $100, and asking rents in premier locations can top $200. Most leases run 10 years with increases of at least 3 percent a year. "All a landlord needs is one comp to take rent from $60 to $130 and that's it," he told the outlet.
The Spring Closures Look Different Next to That Number
Brickell lost three well-known rooms in May 2026, according to The Real Deal. Kaori, the Michelin Guide-listed Mediterranean-Asian restaurant at 871 South Miami Avenue, closed that month. So did Dirty French Steakhouse, Major Food Group's restaurant at 1200 Brickell Avenue.
Baby Jane at 500 Brickell Avenue gave the clearest reason. The Miami Herald reported that the owners could not agree with the landlord on extending the lease, ending a decade in business. The Herald carried the bar's farewell post giving May 30 as the last night, while The Real Deal reported May 31.
No new tenant has been reported for any of the three addresses. In the same June piece, Bendersky described which operators tend to last: those who signed favorable leases before or during the pandemic, those backed by deep-pocketed investors, and those drawing customers beyond seasonal visitors.
Gavina sidesteps that math. Its building is privately funded on land the developer already owns, and its permit is written to expire.
Walking South Miami Avenue This Fall
Going north from the park, here is what has changed on the avenue:
- Granado's, 1250 S. Miami Ave. The smashburger spot from Miami native John Paul "JP" Granado opened Oct. 2 in the space that used to be T.i.t.t.s Chicken. Miami New Times highlights the Choripan Burger, a chorizo-and-chimichurri smash, plus loaded fries and soft serve. Thursday through Sunday it stays open until 3 a.m., with DJ sets from its Teeny Tiny Disco series.
- OMAKAI, 1108 S. Miami Ave. The sushi restaurant has been at its new address since late July, about a block from the park.
- Mary Brickell Village, 900 S. Miami Ave. Owner Kimco announced Uchibā for Space 185, with chef-owner Tyson Cole and Hai Hospitality, targeting late spring 2026. The center's homepage still lists it as "Coming Soon," next to Rivian and Van Leeuwen Ice Cream, which are listed as open.
- 871 S. Miami Ave. Kaori's former address, with no successor announced.
Granado's is the one confirmed new opening on that stretch this fall. Uchibā has missed its announced window by several months. In both cases, the lease came before the menu.
What Runs Through December Without Restaurant Rent
The most reliable Brickell plans this season happen where nobody is paying $120 a foot:
- Brickell Run Club, Tuesdays from 7 to 9 p.m. at Fortune International, 1300 Brickell Ave. The free, Nike-powered club has dates on the Miami DDA event page for Oct. 27 and Nov. 3, 10 and 17.
- The Underline Market, also billed as SNL Market and hosted by East Coast Marketplace on The Underline in Brickell. Its event listing shows Saturdays Oct. 24 and 31, Nov. 7, 14, 21 and 28, and Dec. 5 and 12. The listed hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., but the description calls it a Saturday night market, so check the time with the organizer before heading over.
- Paws Patio Howl-o-Ween Paawty at InterContinental Miami on Oct. 28, and the 22nd Annual Halloween Boo Parade on Oct. 29, organized with the City of Miami Police Department. Both are on the Miami DDA events calendar.
For a longer walk, the Underline segment ties into the bayfront routes covered in our look at Miami's waterfront walk and its four separate projects. Back at SE 10th Street, the next public step for Brickell Park will be Gavina announcing an opening date. After that, the dates to watch are the annual permit renewals.
If you own near Brickell Park or along South Miami Avenue, what happens on that parcel and the storefronts around it affects your daily life and your building's surroundings for years. Serhii Shulha follows Brickell's development pipeline block by block, and our Brickell neighborhood page has the bigger picture. Schedule a Consultation to talk through what these changes mean for your property.
