Major Food Group Joins Pitch to Replace Nikki Beach Day Club
By Julia Echikson May 1, 2023 4:50 pm
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Hospitality powerhouse Major Food Group (MFG) is looking to partner with Boucher Brothers to replace Nikki Beach, the long-running South Beach day club in the swanky South of Fifth neighborhood.
Last week, Miami Beach Commissioners voted to begin negotiations with the Boucher Brothers for the city-owned, oceanfront building at 1 Ocean Drive in the South of Fifth neighborhood. The bid now includes MFG, the company behind celebrity hotspot Carbone, World Red Eye reported.
“Boucher Brothers & Major Food Group are honored and look forward to exploring a partnership that offers an elevated, proven concept for Pier Park and the community,” a representative for Boucher Brothers told the photo agency without providing additional details about the concept.
If finalized, Boucher Brother’s deal would commence in three years when the current lease expires.
Nikki Beach’s owners, married couple Lucia and Jack Penrod, have leased the 23,000-square-foot property for 37 years. They first opened a club called Penrod’s and then in 1998 created Nikki Beach, a luxury club that has served celebrities such as Kate Husdson, Naomie Campbell and Pharrell Williams.
The Penrods expanded the Nikki Beach brand globally, opening outposts in St. Barts, St. Tropez, Dubai and elsewhere.
The negotiations with Boucher Brother, which operates beach chairs and watersports outposts along South Florida’s coast, come as city officials are cracking down on noisy establishments in a bid to shed Miami Beach’s party image.
Earlier this year, commissioners voted to ban alcohol sales in certain venues in South of Fifth after 2 a.m. The move has forced Story, a popular nightclub owned by developer Jeffrey Soffer and David Grutman, to temporarily close.
For Major Food Group, the former Nikki Beach building would represent another outpost in the company’s fast-growing South Florida empire. Since launching Carbone two years ago, also located in South of Fifth, the restaurant group has opened eight restaurants. In June, it signed a lease in Coconut Grove to possibly open a food court.
In March, MFG announced plans to develop a luxury condo tower in Edgewater in partnership with Terra and One Thousand Group.
Representatives for MFG and Boucher Brother did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The Penrods could not be reached for comment.
Julia Echikson can be reached at jechikson@commercialobserver.com.
