1616-3 Real Estate - Putting on the Ritzes Real Estate by Helen Hill
PuffingO The Ritzes
More Luxury For The Inn Crowd
Champagne corks IMINI condominiums on the same site. One
will fly during the example is the Setai, a 91-room,
next few months, :` . eight-story,Asian-influenced luxury
when three new �' j hotel. Next door will stand a 38-story
luxutY hotels will open ,- '; condominium tower. The Roney
for business in Miami =a .� _ Palace Resort&Spa, adjoining the
Dade County.And that's _ " "�" "�, Roney Palace Condominiums,will
just the tip of the bubbly 1 , -•,-- _® open in February as an upscale 585-
flute: During the next three years a , *►_.,�- .' - suite hotel with its own entrance on
dozen distinctive new hotels are i , Collins Avenue. In addition, several
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expected to create a total of 8,305 � F _ ; oceanfront condo hotels will replace
rooms and an estimated 6,405 jobs for t.
P t I tear-downs on Sunny Isles Beach,
both Greater Miami and Miami Beach. L including Ocean Point Beach Club
Soon, flags representing most of
I
' and Sonesta Ocean Grande.
the country's major upscale hospitality --,.0. -.,,,,, - +w At least three other high-end hotel
companies will wave, adding a much- . ,; „ 11' a' developers have been attracted to
needed brand awareness to our -.« Brickell Avenue because of its
tourist-friendly skies. , �. y'^ strategic location as a financial center.
Miami Dade County hasn't .E s -r 1 A i . y I The fust, the 300-room, 21-story JW
enjoyed this sort of economic jolt— ALL- .2 d'�`} rr , „ i. Marriott Hotel, will target an
a $1.4 billion investment in hotel ,,. <- ... ._s.�_'- -"`-V - international business clientele. The
construction—in three decades. hotel will offer amenities such as a
This boom is reflected throughout 24-hour wired business center, audio-
the region, according to the AREEA visual conferencing facilities and a
Report for South Florida, a monthly Miami's hotel boom is good for tourism,but its fully-equipped spa and fitness center.
real estate newsletter which states effect on the economy is still unknown. The Mandarin Oriental, located on
that in 1999 construction loans Above:A rendering of the Mandarin Oriental,opening on Brickell Key, is positioning itself as
funded 28 new hotel and motel an "urban resort" for both corporate
projects for an "unprecedented" Brickell Key in November,and one of its suites(inset).
$538 million. and leisure travelers. Scheduled to
open by next month, the luxurious,
Why has Miami-Dade suddenly the newly-opened Miami Beach Marriott at South Asia-inspired hotel features 329
become such a hotel hot spot? Beach has been built from the ground up, nabbing guest rooms and suites—including
"We're perceived globally as a the last existing beachfront site on Ocean Drive.. a 2,400 square-foot Presidential suite
winning location for business and Positioned as a luxury boutique hotel, the brightly with its own media room; Miami
tourism from Latin America and colored, 236-room Marriott is unlike any of its other will be home to only the second
Europe," says Michael Cannon, namesake hotels. Mandarin Oriental in the mainland
managing director of South Florida In order to nab some oceanfront property, six United States. Finally, when the
Integra Real Estate Resources. new projects have followed the trend of $385-million Four Seasons opens in
Wolfgang Hultner, CEO of incorporating new luxury hotels into older, late 2002 it will stand 63 stories—
Mandarin Oriental Management, architecturally significant beachfront structures. Florida's tallest building.
confirms Cannon's theory, saying that Case in point is the 375-room Ritz Carlton South So, how will these new hotels
"we recognize Miami as a thriving, Beach, scheduled to open next June. Its developers affect existing hotels'business?
international city." are spending$100 million to revamp the DiLido "It's great for business —one of
Stuart Blumberg, president and Hotel. The Ritz also has plans to open hotels in the things this area needs is more
CEO of the Greater Miami and the Coconut Grove and Key Biscayne by Spring 2001. quality hotel rooms," says Lisa Cole
Beaches Hotel Association, credits In addition, the former Art Deco-style Royal Palm of the Fontainebleau Hilton Resort
trendy South Beach for the hotel and Shorecrest hotels are being transformed by &Towers.
rebirth. "We've been discovered by developer R. Donahue Peebles along with "The more the merrier," says Jeff
people from all over the world who Arquitectonica into the luxurious 422-room Royal Abbaticchio of Loews Hotel.
like our beauty, beaches and weather. Palm Crowne Plaza Resort. The Ritz Plaza on Developer Cannon considers the
Last year Miami Beach had 10 million Collins Avenue is currently being rebuilt and is new arrivals "excellent"for the
overnight visitors," he says. "The slated to become The W Miami-South Beach hotel economy during the construction
success of The Loews Miami Beach (a Starwood project), while the chic, 324-room , period. "It's great for the architects,
Hotel, the first new hotel in 30 years, Phillips Hotel will replace the old Shore Club. engineers, suppliers, etc. But what
also helped trigger the boom." Developers also are taking advantage of prime will the results be upon completion?
Of seven major hotel•projects, only property by building separate hotels and The jury is out."MZ
30 OCTOBER 2000 MIAMI METRO MAGAZINE