1675-26 New Hotels 9 of 13, 2 Terms
mh95 MIAMI BEACH CONVENTION HOTEL ON HORIZON 04/30/1995
THE MIAMI HERALD
Copyright (c) 1995, The Miami Herald
DATE: Sunday, April 30, 1995 EDITION: FINAL
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: 4B LENGTH: 43 lines
SOURCE/CREDIT LINE: FRAN BRENNAN Herald Staff Writer
MIAMI BEACH CONVENTION HOTEL ON HORIZON
Miami Beach and Loews Hotels have unveiled a proposed agreement for the
development and management of an 830-room convention hotel -- a deal that is
markedly better than the city initially expected when it awarded the hotel
project -- and its millions of dollars of city incentives -- to Loews in July.
If Beach commissioners approve the letter of intent at their meeting
Wednesday, Loews president Jonathan Tisch said the company will begin design
and financial development Thursday, and then start soliciting bookings for the
anticipated opening in the fall of 1997.
The blue-and-white Deco-style hotel will tower 16 stories above the ocean
on Collins Avenue and 16th Street. Its opening would be the first for a major
hotel in Miami Beach in three decades, and it would be second in size only to
the 1,266-room Fontainebleau Hilton.
Among changes that have improved the city's position since the bid was
awarded last year: Loews' base rent on the city- owned property will increase
every 10 years based on inflation; the city is guaranteed an 8 percent minimum
return on its $20 million land investment; hotel operators will sign a
long-term agreement with the Miami Beach Convention Center, committing rooms
for convention events; hotel management must meet city quality and financial
standards to keep the job; and Loews will foot the bill for the hotel portion
of a parking garage on the site.
Miami Beach will invest $29 million in the project, down $11 million from
the original commitment of $40 million. The city also will put $3 million into
public improvements -- boardwalk, landscaping, sidewalks -- in the area
surrounding the hotel.
Arthur Courshon, chairman of Jefferson Bank and head of the city's
negotiating team, called the deal a victory for the city.
"What I didn't expect was to get as good a deal as we got," Courshon
said. "The city will get its money back -- unless you have an economic
disaster that will affect the whole world."
Most community members who attended Friday's workshop at Miami Beach City
Hall said they expected the hotel to revitalize the city's convention center,
which has suffered in recent years
because of the lack of convenient, quality accommodations. Several critics,
however, again questioned the use of city funds for a private project.
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