For most of 2026, the way into Bal Harbour Shops has quietly moved off Collins Avenue. On February 27, the 9700 Collins Avenue vehicle entrance closed "until further notice." The valet stand next to Carpaccio closed with it. Seven months later, the first section of the West Shops expansion opened to the public on Wednesday, September 23. The Shops asked guests arriving by car to use the 96th Street garage and Green Level valet. The new wing extends the center west toward Biscayne Bay. For now, the practical front door of Bal Harbour's best-known address sits on 96th Street, and the Village's fall calendar uses that same corner.
The Collins Avenue Door Is Still Closed
Most construction notices go stale quickly. This one hasn't. As of early October, the Shops' own access page still sends every driver away from 9700 Collins. Here are the current routes:
- Self-parking: enter through the 96th Street garage or the 9800 Collins Avenue entrance.
- Valet, first option: Level 2, the Green Level, of the 96th Street garage.
- Valet, second option: enter at 9800 Collins and leave the car at the Neiman Marcus stand.
- Valet, third option: the South Collins Gate at Saks Fifth Avenue takes drop-offs only. Cars are picked up at the Neiman Marcus valet.
- Rideshare: all drop-offs happen on the Green Level of the 96th Street garage.
- On foot from Collins: take the pedestrian walkway near the 9700 block, follow the sidewalk toward Neiman Marcus, and enter through the walkway between Chanel and Neiman Marcus.
- On foot from 96th Street: go through the garage walkway, take the elevator to the Green Level, turn left, and follow the signs.
Four of these seven routes run through the 96th Street garage, and rideshare runs through it exclusively. The Saks gate looks like a shortcut but only works one way. Anyone who uses it gets the car back at Neiman Marcus at the other end of the property. The Village's February notice warned that the changes could affect traffic on Collins Avenue and 96th Street and suggested allowing extra time. No later notice of a reopening has been posted.
The West Wing Faces the Bay
The West Shops project adds roughly 200,000 square feet of retail on the west side of the 9700 Collins property. That is the largest physical addition the center has had since it opened. Renderings are credited to Skidmore, Owings & Merrill. The center first opened in 1965. For scale, the existing center was about 500,000 square feet and 98 percent leased across 110 tenants when Whitman Family Development closed the construction financing in December 2024. The new wing adds space equal to about two-fifths of that footprint, and nearly all of it sits on the side facing the bay and the 96th Street garage.
The September 23 debut was a morning preview of the first group of boutiques. Visitors could walk the new Level 1 shops and get a sense of how the West Shops will fill in as more brands arrive. The wing is open but not finished. Matthew Whitman Lazenby, president and CEO of Whitman Family Development, said this in August:
"We look forward to unveiling the next wave of openings as each brand is ready to share its plans."
The announced changes fall into three groups. Late-August reporting named them before the opening. No source has yet confirmed which of these stores were open on day one.
- First-time arrivals: L'Agence, Toteme and Peserico. A separate August feature listed Toteme, Khaite, Victoria Beckham and Celine among the newest arrivals.
- Moving to new spaces within the center: Akris, Isaia, Graff, Bottega Veneta, Zegna, Zimmermann, The Webster, David Yurman and Etro.
- Enlarging in place: Prada, Balenciaga, Saint Laurent and Brioni.
The middle group matters most for regular visitors. Nine familiar boutiques are changing addresses within the same property. A store's location as of last spring is not a reliable guide this season, and the directory is the place to check before walking to a favorite counter. Victoria Beckham opened a boutique pop-up on July 8. The Shops gave no closing date, so check whether it is still running before planning a visit around it.
Dinner Got There First
The restaurant changes came well before the new wing. Both took over rooms that closed in 2025.
Stephen Starr's Slim's opened March 17 at Suite 101, serving lunch and dinner. It took over the first-floor space where Makoto started out. Makoto moved up to the third floor in 2022, and Aba ran in the first-floor room from 2023 until it closed in 2025. Jeffrey Chodorow's China Grill reopened June 9 in the former Le Zoo space. It is at Suite D135 and stays open until 11 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and until midnight on Friday and Saturday.
Neither restaurant is in the West Shops wing. Both are inside the original building. In August, the Shops said more dining destinations would open "in the coming months" but named none. For a late China Grill dinner, the closest valet is the Green Level of the 96th Street garage or the Neiman Marcus stand. The stand by Carpaccio is still closed.
The Same Corner Holds the Beach Market
Cross Collins Avenue at 96th Street and the pattern continues. The Village held the opening weekend of the Market at Bal Harbour's fifth season on October 3 and 4 at Bal Harbour Beach South, 96th Street and Collins Avenue, with produce and artisan food vendors. One intersection now serves as both the main entry to the Shops and the Village's beach market site.
The rest of the fall calendar is split between the jetty at the north end and Waterfront Park on the bay side:
| Date | Event | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Oct. 11, 4–5:30 p.m. | Sounds by the Sea with the French Horn Collective | Bal Harbour Beach North by the jetty, 10301 Collins Ave. |
| Oct. 17, 6:30–9 p.m. | Movie Night on the Beach: Moana (Live Action), with family activities and a tropical island grill | Bal Harbour Beach North by the jetty |
| Oct. 24, 7–9 p.m. | Fall Festival, free for residents and hotel guests | Waterfront Park, 18 Bal Bay Drive |
| Nov. 15, 3–5 p.m. | Bespoke Bal Harbour doormat workshop, residents only, $25 | Waterfront Park |
The Shops runs its own October programming for the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. It includes a Frette flower cart on October 10, a Monnalisa promotion from October 13 to 22, Cartier eyewear from October 14 to 18, and fashion illustration at Tod's and Roger Vivier on October 17 and 18 and again on October 24 and 25. October 17 is the busiest day. Illustrators will be inside the Shops in the afternoon and Moana plays at the jetty that evening, about seven blocks north along Collins.
One access detail changed this year. Since spring 2026, the Village's All Access Card opens the 102nd Street Beach Access Path, replacing the separate fob. Residents can update their cards at Waterfront Park. The October 24 festival and the November 15 workshop are both held there, so either one is a chance to update a card.
What Is Still Under Construction
Two Village projects will outlast the season. Harbourfront Park is planned as a linear waterfront park built around a rebuilt historic jetty. The work is phased to keep public and emergency access open, and completion is expected in 2027. The utility infrastructure project's status page, last updated July 28, 2026, lists Phase 6B for completion in November 2026 and Phase 7 and Phases 3C and 3D for early 2027. It also warns that paving can limit vehicle traffic in work zones. The September target for Phase 6A has passed with no updated status posted, so check the Village page before taking a familiar side street.
The larger proposal for the same Shops site is a separate project and still in dispute. Whitman has proposed a 600-unit residential and hotel development. The Village Council rejected a scaled-back settlement in late April 2026, and the case is headed toward trial with no resolution date. The retail wing under construction now is not part of that plan. For the coming months, the open questions are which boutiques fill the rest of the West Shops, which restaurants arrive with them, and when cars can use 9700 Collins again.
When the West Shops changes start showing up in conversations about the buildings around 96th Street and Collins, Carlo Dipasquale and his team can talk through what they mean for a specific residence, in English, Italian, Spanish or Portuguese. Schedule a private consultation.
