Walk the new wing at Bal Harbour Shops and the buildings look like they've always been there: white facades, black railings and black awnings, with koi ponds and waterfalls running between them, as in the original center. The trees are what give it away. Matthew Whitman Lazenby, president and CEO of Whitman Family Development, explained the difference to WWD:
"The biggest noticeable difference are the 60-year trees, which are taller than the 60-minute trees in the West Shops. But give it a few years and it'll blend in."
The address is still 9700 Collins Avenue, as it has been since the center opened in 1965. The two-level, 200,000-square-foot West Shops are now finished. Under the Shops' own access guidance, much of the parking, valet, rideshare and foot traffic now comes in from 96th Street.
A church moved to Kane Concourse, and a garage took its place
The expansion couldn't start until something else moved. Church by the Sea, a Congregational church, sat on land the Shops needed. Lazenby told WWD the deal to buy that property was "literally a 40-year negotiation, across multiple generations." The congregation agreed to sell, and the old building came down to make room for a new one nearby.
The church's new home is at 1000 Kane Concourse in Bay Harbor Islands. It's a three-story building with the church on the upper floors and retail at street level. It moved because of the same project that is bringing Louis Vuitton to the Shops.
A new parking garage now stands on the old church site. It replaced an older garage that was torn down to make room for the expansion. The garage's main entrance is on 96th Street.
WWD reported that getting the expansion approved was a long fight. The project was backed by a $740 million loan and held up for years by entitlements, a complicated construction plan and the pandemic. With the West Shops added, the center now covers 600,000 square feet.
Who is moving in, and who is just moving over
The West Shops are fully leased, according to PROFILEmiami. Stores will keep opening through 2028. WWD puts the count at 30 new shops and restaurants, opening one after another starting this month and continuing into next year.
The tenants fall into three groups.
Brands new to the Shops, opening in the West Shops:
- Khaite
- Boucheron
- Tom Ford
- Louis Vuitton
- Celine
- Eden Gallery
- Moorer
- Elie Saab
- Messika
- Paul & Shark
Brands already at the Shops, expanding or moving into bigger West Shops spaces: Saint Laurent, Roger Vivier, Bottega Veneta, David Yurman, Zegna, Pomellato, Santoni, Graff, Rene Caovilla, Loro Piana, Etro, Jacob & Co., The Webster, Zimmermann, Golden Goose, Vilebrequin, Elisabetta Franchi, Scanlan Theodore and Ermanno Scervino.
Brands in the original East Shops or still to come: Toteme and Peserico opened in the East Shops just before the West Shops were finished. Lululemon and Simkhai expect to open in 2027, and more brands follow in 2028.
The second list is the one most likely to throw off a regular. If you have a habit of turning left at a certain fountain for Loro Piana or Vilebrequin, the store may now be in the new wing. The Shops' directory lists The Webster's larger West Shops location as reopening in November 2026. Chanel is staying in the ground-level corner it has held since 1994 and adding space there, according to Miami New Times.
The restaurant count is about to double
Lazenby told WWD that restaurants now bring in more traffic as department stores and shopping habits change. "We're essentially doubling the amount of restaurants to at least eight, maybe 12," he said. New restaurants are going into the West Shops. The East Shops could get some too if their additional retail level opens.
Here's what's already open. According to PROFILEmiami, the Shops' own announcement highlighted two 2026 arrivals: Jeffrey Chodorow's China Grill, which came back this year, and Stephen Starr's Slim's, which opened earlier in the year. Carpaccio, Makoto and Avenue 31 Café are still there too. The Shops report nearly $70 million a year in dining revenue. China Grill reopened on June 9 at the Shops entrance, and the Miami Herald confirmed it was serving by mid-June.
Lazenby told WWD that the average customer visits 19 times a year and stays about two hours. He also said at least half of all visitors are international tourists or people with second homes in the Miami area.
Getting in from the 96th Street side
This is where the change in direction shows up day to day. The Shops' expansion-update page, posted in February 2026 before the West Shops opened, sends almost every arrival through the 96th Street garage. Check the page before you go, because the instructions may change now that the wing is open. Here is how it lays out each way in:
- Self-parking: enter through the 96th Street garage or the 9800 Collins Avenue entrance.
- Valet: there are three stands. One is on Level 2/Green of the 96th Street garage, one is at Neiman Marcus through 9800 Collins, and one is at Saks Fifth Avenue through the South Collins Gate. The Saks stand is drop-off only, so you pick your car up at the Neiman Marcus valet.
- Rideshare: entry and drop-off are on Level 2/Green of the 96th Street garage.
- On foot from 96th Street: go in through the garage walkway, take the elevator to Level 2/Green, turn left and follow the signs.
- On foot from Collins Avenue: use the pedestrian walkway near the 9700 Collins block, walk toward Neiman Marcus and enter between Chanel and Neiman Marcus.
The Shops' garage page gives the routes to the main garage entrance. Turn onto 96th Street from Collins, or come off Kane Concourse and take Byron Avenue. Coming from Bay Harbor Islands, the Kane Concourse and Byron Avenue route reaches the garage without using Collins Avenue at all.
Bicycles count here too. Lazenby told WWD the center has "a ton of bicycle parking," that customers arrive by bike, and that "more than 100, maybe 200, employees show up every day on bicycles."
Homes and a hotel are in the plans
When everything is finished, the original center will have three floors of retail with parking on the roof. The new wing has two retail levels with parking above them, and the Village has agreed that one of those parking levels can become retail later. Lazenby connects that to the future of driving. "With Waymos and other autonomous vehicles, at some point we're not going to need as many parking spaces," he told WWD.
Beyond that, WWD reports that plans for the Shops call for roughly 500 residential units, some at market rates and some more affordable, along with a hotel and another tower. WWD mentions the housing alongside Florida's Live Local Act and its aim of getting employees to live closer to work. Many Bal Harbour Shops employees now commute long distances because they can't afford to live near work.
Miami New Times calls this a three-phase project, with new retail and dining opening into 2028. The garage on the old church site and the new wing are both built. The homes, hotel and tower are still plans.
Ross Milroy Group follows changes like this one on both sides of 96th Street, from the Kane Concourse waterfront to the towers along Collins. If you'd like to talk through what the West Shops and the planned residences mean for your home or your dock, book a Dock‑to‑Doorstep Consultation.
