Miami New Drama and Café Avanti picked for Segafredo's old Colony Theatre café

Miami New Drama, the theater company that runs the city-owned Colony Theatre, ranked first to take over the café space next to the theater at 1040 Lincoln Road, with Café Avanti of 41st Street running the kitchen day to day, according to a memo on the Miami Beach City Commission’s Nov. 18 agenda.

The space was home for years to Segafredo Zanetti Espresso, which leased it from the city in 2018 and also ran the concession counter in the Colony’s lobby. The memo says the space was to become available Sept. 1, with that tenancy ending. It covers about 820 square feet of ground-floor restaurant space and a 272-square-foot concession and storage area.

The city drew three proposals. A five-member evaluation committee ranked Miami New Drama first, Sunshine Coffee LLC second and Taste Bakery MB City Hall LLC third. Two of the five scorers put Sunshine Coffee on top, but Miami New Drama had the best combined ranking, the committee’s score sheet shows. The panel included the SoBe West Neighborhood Association’s president and the Lincoln Road Business Improvement District’s executive director, along with three city staff members.

Under Miami New Drama’s proposal, as summarized in the memo:

• A five-year lease with two two-year renewals at the city’s option.
• Minimum rent of $60,060 in the first year (about $5,005 a month), rising 3% a year, or 7% of the café’s gross sales if that is higher.
• The tenant pays operating costs, estimated by the city at about $21,840 in the first year, plus all build-out and equipment, subject to city approval.

The memo says one operator for both the theater and the café would give the city a single point of accountability. Café Avanti has operated at 732 41st St. since 1989, it says.

Item C2 A asks the commission to let city staff negotiate a lease; the final agreement would come back for a vote. The solicitation is under the city’s cone of silence, which limits contact between bidders and officials until the vote. The commission meets at 8:30 a.m. Nov. 18 at City Hall, 1700 Convention Center Drive.