MIAMI, FL – The Miami office of HFF (Holliday Fenoglio Fowler, L.P.) announced today that it has closed the sale of the former Seville Beach Hotel in Miami Beach, Florida.
HFF executive managing director Manny de Zárraga, senior managing directors Dan Carlo and Daniel Peek, and director Jaret Turkell represented the 2901 Beach Ventures, LLLP ownership group, on an exclusive basis. The venture is a partnership between affiliates of Fortune International and Lionstone Group. An affiliate of Marriott International purchased the site for $57.5 million in cash. Both Fortune and Lionstone have been retained by Marriott on a consulting basis for the new project.
“The sale of the Seville is among the most significant hotel sale transactions of 2010 in the southeast United States. This sale highlights the exceptional confidence held by institutional investors in the Miami Beach hospitality investment sector,” said Peek.
Located along Collins Avenue between 29th and 30th Streets in Miami Beach, the hotel and development sites encompassed nearly 4.5 acres on both the east and west sides of Collins Avenue. The property included 350 feet of frontage along the Atlantic Ocean and 100 feet of frontage along Indian Creek Drive. The east lot is improved with the former Seville Beach Hotel, a 12-story structure that was gutted in anticipation of a redevelopment program. The site has the ability of being developed as a residential or hotel project or any combination thereof.
“Originally built in 1955, the Seville Beach Hotel was for many years a global playground for the rich and famous, and was considered one of the most prestigious hotels in Miami Beach,” said de Zárraga. “This was a rare opportunity to acquire a historically significant, trophy asset with diverse redevelopment potential.”
“Real estate along South Beach rarely changes hands, with most of the properties considered to be generational assets,” added Carlo. “The sale of a property of the Seville’s prominence is unique. In addition, Miami Beach is woefully underrepresented within the major hotel brands. As a result, the Seville was highly attractive to a wide variety of investors, including a number of high-quality brands that could make their mark in Miami Beach and restore the Seville Beach Hotel to its rightful position as a leader in the South Beach lodging market.”
HFF (NYSE: HF) operates out of 17 offices nationwide and is a leading provider of commercial real estate and capital markets services to the U.S. commercial real estate industry. HFF offers clients a fully integrated national capital markets platform including debt placement, investment sales, advisory services, structured finance, private equity, loan sales and commercial loan servicing. www.hfflp.com.