Las Olas River House Close to Landing Morton's

FORT LAUDERDALE-Morton’s Steakhouse of Chicago has signed a letter of intent to lease 7,500 sf of ground-floor space for 15 years at the $200 million, 280-unit Las Olas River House complex under construction Downtown. The restaurant would front Las Olas Boulevard at Second Avenue, a major business hub.

The value of the lease wasn’t disclosed. But area retail brokers tell GlobeSt.com the class A space is probably in the $25 to $35-per-sf-range. That would make the aggregate value of the lease at least $2.81 million, brokers estimate. A percentage of sales is also generally added to the base rent.

Zipes says he is also near to signing two other national restaurant groups and plans to construct a 10,000-sf public day spa on the second floor retail area of this 42-story building. Moving on a fast-track construction schedule, developers are completing one floor every six days. The project’s shell is slated to finish on schedule in August with occupancy anticipated by late spring 2004.