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0 mh95 HOTEL'S OPENING 10/22/1995
THE MIAMI HERALD
Copyright (c) 1995, The Miami Herald
DATE: Sunday, October 22, 1995 EDITION: FINAL
SECTION: NEIGHBORS MB PAGE: 20 LENGTH: 21 lines
SOURCE/CREDIT LINE: Herald Staff
HOTEL'S OPENING
TOPIC OF LUNCHEON
Jonathan Tisch, president of Loews Hotels, will discuss the economic
impact his company's new 830-room hotel will have on South Beach at a Miami
Beach Chamber of Commerce luncheon at noon Wednesday at the Doral Ocean Beach
Resort, 4833 Collins Ave.
The convention hotel is scheduled to open at Collins Avenue and 16th
Street in the fall of 1997.
The blue-and-white, 16-story Deco-style hotel will be the first major
hotel to open in Miami Beach in 30 years, and second in size only to the
1,266-room Fontainebleau Hilton.
Armando Codina, the project's developer, will also speak at the luncheon.
To reserve a seat, call 672-1270.
TAG: 9503080734
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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 fdriter
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.
TAG: 9501300147
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UNCONVENTIONAL START FOR CONVENTION HOTEL 09/27/1996
THE MIAMI HERALD
Copyright (c) 1996, The Miami Herald
DATE: Friday, September 27, 1996 EDITION: Final
SECTION: Business PAGE: 1C LENGTH: 40 lines
ILLUSTRATION: photo: Ana Arias and fellow students from South Pointe
Elementary are ready to help the new hotel get started, Loews hotel chain
president Jonathan Tisch stands on the roof of the Sony building on Lincoln
Road (2-a)
SOURCE/CREDIT LINE: Herald Staff
MEMO: ran as a cutline
UNCONVENTIONAL START FOR CONTENTION HOTEL
Thursday was the day Dade tourism officials have long been waiting for. In
an entertainment- and people-packed celebration Loews Hotels broke ground and
signed the meeting contracts for the first major hotel in Miami Beach in 30
years.
The 800-room project will combine construction of a 17-story tower with
renovation of the old St. Moritz hotel, a 10-story Art Deco remnant seen just
over the shoulder of hotel chain president Jonathan Tisch
The hotel project brings the Tisch family back to South Florida, where they
opened the Americana -- now the Sheraton Bal Harbour -- 40 years ago. The $135
million luxury convention hotel at Collins Avenue and 16th Street includes $50
million in city support in the form of the land and amenities.
Loews is putting in $40 million and lenders $66 million. Tourism executives
hope the project will spur more convention business. Already, 700,000 room
nights are tentatively booked by audiologists, hematologists, nephrologists
and others.
"The interest to date has been very exciting, very promising, " said
Jonathan Tisch, president of the 14-hotel Loews chain.
Meanwhile, Loews has committed to two other Florida properties: resort
hotels at MCA's Universal Studios in Orlando set to open in 1999.
CAPTION: AL DIAZ / Herald Staff