Sunrise in Sunset Harbour: Panther Coffee, Tequitzlan Mexican and Ice Box may open this week

Panther Coffee is almost ready to brew in Sunset Harbour.

There was a barista behind the gleaming expresso machine at the new Panther Coffee in Sunset Harbour on Saturday, but the coffee house won’t be open until some time later this week.

Management is waiting on a certificate of occupancy from the city of Miami Beach, and it’s a day-to-day thing.  But the space, facing the Sunset Harbour condos, looks great. They won’t be roasting beans here, as they do in Wynwood, but the space seems bigger, with more seating.

A sneak peak into Ice Box.

A couple of shops down at 1855 Purdy Ave., workers labored Saturday at the new Ice Box Cafe location.

The Miami Beach favorite closed its tiny just-off Lincoln Road (on Michigan Avenue ) location on Sunday, and plans to open in Sunset Harbour as soon as Mother’s Day. The new space dwarfs the tiny Lincoln Road location, and features a full bar and lots of table space.

By the way, while traveling last weekend, Belle Isle Blog stumbled upon an Ice Box that opened in Concourse A at Dallas-Fort Worth Airport (near Gate A9, to be specific).

At DFW Airport.

The DFW shop is desserts only, unlike the spot in Miami International, which features a wide range of takeout sandwiches and salads.

Meanwhile, on the Bay Road side of the Shoppes at Sunset Harbour, Tequitzlan Mexican Restaurant and Tequila bar is racing toward an opening day.

Tequitzlan Mexican readies for opening.

The spacious spot features some unique lighting fixtures, and a large bar. The staff on site Saturday said they hope to be open for customers on Thursday.

The restaurants will join the Shoppes pioneers, starting with Juan Plasencia’s Sunset Clothing Co., and Frankie’s Boutique, both of which opened in November.

Last month, ice cream eatery Emack & Bolio opened up, featuring great ice creams and frozen yogurts.

Miami Beach plans Oct. 16 ceremony for Sunset Harbour Shops & Garage

The Sunset Harbour parking garage is open, and work is underway on the array of retail space that is expected to open beginning sometime in December.

On Oct. 16 at 9:30 a.m., Miami Beach Mayor Matti Herrera Bower and developer Scott Robins will hold a ceremonial opening.

Among the restaurants and stores under construction: Panther Coffee, Ice Box Cafe, Emack & Bolio’s Ice Cream, Eberjey Lingerie, Tequitzlan Restaurant and Tequila Bar, Lucali Pizza from Brooklyn, Splendor Restaurant, Sunset Clothing Co., and True Loaf Artisanal Bakery.

The four-level garage above the retail shops has 460 spaces that cost $1 an hour. The location is between 18th and 20th streets between Bay Road and Purdy Avenue.

The garage and retail space is a joint venture between the city of Miami Beach and developer Scott Robins and partner Philip Levine. It was designed by Arquitectonica.

Sunset Harbour garage is open for parking

Rendering of the Shops at Sunset Harbour.

Rates at the Sunset Harbour garage start at $1 an hour

Some construction projects seem to take forever — some, but not all.

The new city of Miami Beach parking garage at Sunset Harbour quietly opened this week ($1 an hour up to six hours), and work moves forward on the ground level retail spaces that will house Ice Box Cafe, Panther Coffee and other attractions.

The garage, designed by Architectonica, has 450 spaces and 30,000 square feet of retail on the sidewalk level.

It should make access a heck of a lot easier for one of Miami Beach’s hottest neighborhoods.

Panther Coffee, Ice Box, Emack & Bolio among signed tenants at new Sunset Harbour garage

Rendering of the Shops at Sunset Harbour.

If you’ve driven down Purdy lately, you’ve noticed that the Sunset Harbour parking garage and shops look nearly finished. The city of Miami Beach says the garage could open within the next week or two.

What you can’t see is the list of retail tenants. Til now.

Floor plan with tenants at Shops at Sunset Harbour.

So far, they include Ice Box Cafe (trying to find out if it is a new location or a move from off Lincoln Road), Panther Coffee (a great spot in Midtown),  Emack and Boilio’s (a New England-based high-end ice cream shop), Tequitzlan Mexican Restaurant and Tequila Bar, Fratelli In Toufala, True Loaf Bakery, Frankie Boutique, Sunset Clothing Co and Thread Count.

In filling the remaining spaces,  “we will continue to cherry-pick each tenant, so that the area continues to develop as an authentic, interesting, trendy, mix of boutiques, shops and restaurants for locals to live, play, shop and dine,” said Melissa Dunn, the broker with Scott Robins Companies.

Ice Box has been a fixture on Michigan Avenue off Lincoln Road for nearly a decade, and opened a branch at Miami International Airport last year.

Emack & Bolio’s started in Boston in 1975 and now has stores in four states, with three locations in Florida — on Vanderbilt Beach near Naples, at Hawks Cay Resort in the Keys, and at Hard Rock in Orlando.

The multi-level garage has 450 parking spaces and 30,000 square feet of retail on the sidewalk level. The garage should have a temporary certificate of occupancy in the next week or so, accounting to city spokeswoman Nannette Rodriguez.

Work on the retail spaces has began on an individual tenant basis, Dunn says.