"It feels like Balan's is coming home," Jonathan and Keva Balan said in the press release announcing their return to 1022 Lincoln Road, according to Miami New Times. The restaurant first opened at that address in 1997, swapped it out for Issabella's in 2021, and came back this fall.
A few steps off the mall, four projects on the cross streets and the service lanes behind Lincoln Road are changing how people reach it and how they move through it. Each runs on its own schedule, and together they run through late 2027.
Four Projects, Four Clocks
| Project | Where | Latest stated timing |
|---|---|---|
| Meridian Avenue improvements | Meridian from 17 Street to Lincoln Lane South | Began January 2026, completion expected before year end |
| Drexel Avenue pedestrian corridor | Drexel from Lincoln Lane South to Lincoln Lane North | Finishing work underway as of Sept. 10, 2026, no posted opening date |
| NoLi District | North Lincoln Lane between Meridian Avenue and Meridian Court | First phase targeted for mid-2027 |
| Grand Hyatt Miami Beach | 17 Street and Convention Center Drive | Anticipated late 2027 |
The City describes Drexel and Meridian as "major connection streets" between the Miami Beach Convention Center, New World Symphony, City Hall and the businesses on Lincoln Road. All four projects sit on the routes people use to walk between those places. Most of them will finish before the large convention hotel opens, so the walking routes will be in place before that new foot traffic arrives.
Meridian Avenue Is Due First
Meridian is the project closest to done. Work started in January 2026, and the City's project page says completion is expected before year end.
For someone walking north from Lincoln Road toward 17 Street, the scope covers wider sidewalks with pavers from 17 Street to Lincoln Road, new palms and planters, a new crosswalk across Meridian at Lincoln Lane North, and a raised landscaped median between Lincoln Lane North and 17 Street. It also includes reinstalled and upgraded bike lanes, new lighting and signals, and a repaved roadway. Underneath all of that are new water, sanitary sewer and storm drain lines between 17 Street and Lincoln Road.
The new Lincoln Lane North crosswalk connects to the third project on the list. The alley it crosses is the one the NoLi District plans to turn into a dining lane.
Drexel Is Down to Planters and Steps
Drexel is a longer story. The City started work in July 2025 and held a groundbreaking ceremony on Sept. 5, 2025. The project FAQ still lists the original schedule of about eight months. The City's September 2026 updates show the work running well past that.
Those updates show a project in its last stage. The Sept. 10 update lists the remaining tasks as finishing the planters between Lincoln Road and Lincoln Lane South, rebuilding the crosswalk at Lincoln Lane North, completing seating steps and planters, and finishing signals, curbs, pavers and landscaping at Drexel and 16 Street before paving that intersection. Earlier, a Sept. 1 advisory closed Lincoln Lane North between Pennsylvania and Washington Avenues for about two weeks while crews rebuilt the crosswalk. Sidewalks stayed open, and the 1661 Pennsylvania Avenue garage stayed reachable throughout.
The seating steps belong to the part of Drexel that will change the most. The City's project page says the block of Drexel from Lincoln Lane South to Lincoln Lane North becomes a pedestrian-only corridor with a new outdoor performance space at Lincoln Road. Drexel between 16 Street and Lincoln Lane South gets new paving and landscaping but stays open to traffic. The City has not posted a revised opening date for the corridor. Until it does, the realistic expectation is that the planters and steps are being finished now and the date is still open.
The Alley Behind 719 Lincoln Road
Meridian and Drexel are City projects. NoLi is a public-private deal, and its schedule depends on a developer.
On Oct. 14, Miami Beach commissioners voted 7-0 to let developer Michael Comras turn the city-owned service alley on North Lincoln Lane, between Meridian Avenue and Meridian Court, into a pedestrian lane with outdoor dining, landscaping, lighting, and new retail and cafe spaces, Miami Today reported. The plan also includes a passageway through the building at 719-737 Lincoln Road, connecting the alley to the mall itself.
Under the draft concession agreement, the City keeps ownership of the land. Comras pays for construction and maintenance, and improvements to the city-owned area are estimated at $3 million, about $2 million of it for public improvements. The concession would run 20 years, with renewal options that could stretch it to 50.
According to Miami Today, Comras told commissioners he expects "the first phase of the improvements will be completed by the middle of next year," and that almost all of the work should be substantially complete before the convention center hotel opens.
The Hotel That Sets the Deadline
The Grand Hyatt Miami Beach is the reference point for the whole sequence. The Miami Beach Convention Center's own page puts its opening in late 2027, at 17 Street and Convention Center Drive.
That corner is at the north end of the newly widened stretch of Meridian. A hotel guest walking south on Meridian will reach Lincoln Road on the new sidewalks, pass the new crosswalk at Lincoln Lane North, and, if the NoLi timeline holds, pass a dining alley that connects through to the 700 block. Meridian finishes first and the alley follows, so the route should be largely complete before the hotel opens.
The Address That Went Back to 1997
The side-street work is about future access. The turnover on the mall itself is mostly about returning tenants.
Balans began in London in 1987 and opened its first U.S. location on Lincoln Road in 1997. It spent more than two decades there before the family replaced it with Issabella's, a Mediterranean restaurant that opened on Dec. 17, 2021, and served its last meal on Aug. 30, 2026. The Lincoln Road Business Improvement District's Q&A with the owners describes Balans as "recently reopened." The family's Brickell location at Mary Brickell Village, open since 2008, kept running the whole time.
The opening announcement promised brunch every day until 4 p.m., happy hour from 3 to 6 p.m. seven days a week, recurring sunset events with music and cocktails, and patio programming that changes with the seasons. The returning menu items include eggs Benedict, Belgian waffles, the Balan's burger, and British fish and chips.
A few blocks west, Ukiyo was announced for a mid-October opening on the second level of 818 Lincoln Road. It is a conveyor-belt sushi restaurant led by chef Nono Shigetomi, per Miami New Times, with live performances in the dining room. Ukiyo sits on the same 700 and 800 stretch of Lincoln Road that the NoLi passageway will eventually connect to.
Using the Road While It Is Still Torn Up
The City's message on both project pages is that Lincoln Road's restaurants and shops stay open during construction, with posted pedestrian paths around the work zones. The regular calendar keeps running on its usual schedule:
- Every Sunday: The Lincoln Road Farmer's Market runs 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., with vendors set up from Meridian Avenue through Washington Avenue. That stretch reaches both active City work zones, at Meridian and at Drexel.
- Thursday, Nov. 19: The free Lincoln Road Art Walk happens on the third Thursday of each month. It is part of the City's 2026-27 Culture Crawl season, which started Oct. 15 and adds complimentary trolley connections on Culture Crawl nights.
- Dec. 4 to 6: Art Basel Miami Beach's public days take over the Convention Center at 1901 Convention Center Drive, at the north end of the same Meridian and Drexel routes, after invitation-only days on Dec. 2 and 3.
- Thursday, Dec. 17: The City lists the December Art Walk from 6 to 9 p.m.
For driving in, the City points visitors to the surface lot between Meridian and Jefferson Avenues, entered from 17 Street via Jefferson Avenue.
If you own a home within walking distance of Lincoln Road, these projects change your block's access to the mall over the next two years, and that belongs in any conversation about what your property is worth. For a read on how these timelines bear on your home, request a confidential home valuation from Mark Cooper.
