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1675-4 Loews TAG: 9903090360 126 of 168, 1 Terms mh99 BLAST FROM THE PAST FROM AMERICANA TO LOEWS 03/06/1999 THE MIAMI HERALD Copyright (c) 1999, The Miami Herald DATE: Saturday, March 6, 1999 EDITION: Final SECTION: Business PAGE: 1C LENGTH: 80 lines ILLUSTRATION: color photo: Jonathan Tisch (a) ; photo: AMERICANA HOTEL SOURCE/CREDIT LINE: By CYNTHIA CORZO, Herald Business Writer BLAST FROM THE PAST FROM AMERICANA TO LOEWS Sometimes you've got to look back to go forward. That is exactly what Jonathan Tisch did to build the new Loews Miami Beach Hotel, the first hotel built in the city in 30 years. Forty-two years after his father and uncle built the Americana Hotel, now the Sheraton Bal Harbour, Tisch, president of Loews Hotels, looked back to the old hotel for ideas on how to create the new Loews. "It's like back to the future, " said Tisch, in Miami Beach Friday for the official grand opening of the Loews, which opened Dec. 24. "In designing this hotel, we took a lot of elements that existed at the Americana. Here, we have an Americana Ballroom and the Gaucho Room [an Argentine-themed restaurant] that was at the old Americana. " Two months after the $135 million Loews opened its doors, Tisch can hardly believe the project his family began in 1993 is finally a reality. The 800-room hotel is composed of two buildings - the renovated St. Moritz hotel, an Art Deco remnant with 100 rooms, and the newly constructed 700-room tower. "After five years of marathon negotiations, meetings with designers and construction, it's very exciting to see this hotel open, " said Tisch, who runs the Loews office of the president with his cousins Andrew and James. "The response has been terrific, phones are ringing off the hook with reservations, and we've been virtually sold out since we opened. " The Loews was eagerly anticipated by Miami 'Beach. The deluxe hotel, within walking distance of the Miami Beach Convention Center, was touted as the missing ingredient needed to lure more and larger conventions to Miami-Dade County. About 70 percent of the hotel's business is made up by groups, with the other 30 percent from individual guests. Loews expects it will generate $1 billion in revenue in its first 10 years. ' 'We hope to make a lot of money, " Tisch said. "We want to be known as soon as possible, even though we are the newest kid on the block, as an old member of the family. " The Loews became a reality after a 1995 agreement between the company, Miami Beach and the Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau. In the deal, Miami Beach put $55 million into construction of the hotel, and the bureau promised to pay $900,000 a year for three years to to underwrite the city's debt on the hotel. "This hotel would not have been built without the City of Miami Beach making a commitment to its economic future and offering the joint venture. It's unconventional for a city to enter into this kind of arrangement, " Tisch said. "Now it's incumbent upon us to respond to this community financially and by supporting community projects. " Construction and permitting delays plagued the project fox several months. Last summer, engineers outlined design flaws showing the hotel couldn't withstand hurricane-force winds. The problems were significant enough that the southeast corner of the new tower had to be rebuilt. "The delays were not to be expected, but neither were the structural issues discovered when we were 75 percent complete, " Tisch said. "The resulting delays were fairly minor compared to what they could have been, given the magnitude of the problem. It was fairly seamless. " Catching his breath between meetings in preparation for today's grand opening - a celebrity-studded reception benefiting the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation and Miami Children's Hospital - Tisch stopped frequently to admire the hotel and to make sure any leftover glitches are ironed out. His favorite spots are the lobby and the grand staircase. —A lobby is like the waiting room of an old railroad terminal, an intersection of lives and personalities. And at the top of the staircase is the hanging pineapple, the symbol of hospitality, " Tisch said. "There's nothing like a great lobby. " Miami Beach may be the Tisches' first stop in Florida, but it is certainly not the last. The company is building three hotels at Universal Studios Escape outside Orlando. The first, the 750-room Portofino Bay Hotel will open in September. The 650-room Hard Rock Hotel is scheduled to open in late 2000, and the 1,000-room Royal Pacific Resort will open by summer 2001. CAPTION: Herald File Photo PAST TO PRESENT: Many elements from the Americana Hotel were used in the creation of the Loews Miami Beach Hotel. AL DIAZ/Herald Staff A GREAT START: Jonathan Tisch, president of Loews Hotels, says phones have been ringing off the hook with reservations and the hotel has been virtually sold out since it opened. KEYWORDS: MIAMI BEACH DADE CONSTRUCTION LOEWS HOTEL TAG: 9903080123 127 of 168, 13 Terms mh99 LAWYER-WRITER-DADDY TO SIGN BOOKS SATURDAY 03/04/1999 THE MIAMI HERALD Copyright (c) 1999, The Miami Herald DATE: Thursday, March 4, 1999 EDITION: Final SECTION: Neighbors BC PAGE: in corporate and tax law. Star gazing Open since December, the Loews Miami Beach will hold its —official" grand opening this Saturday night - a $500 per-person star-studded gala to benefit the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation and the Miami Children's Hospital Foundation. Elizabeth Glaser, wife of TV star Paul Michael Glaser, contracted HIV from a blood transfusion in 1981 and unknowingly passed the virus on to her two children. When the couple's 7-year-old daughter Ariel died of AIDS in 1988, Elizabeth successfully lobbied Congress to increase research funding for pediatric AIDS and created a foundation to further the cause. Elizabeth Glaser died of AIDS in 1994, but P.A.F. - which turns 10 this year - leads the nation in helping to find a cure for pediatric HIV/AIDS. More than 1,400 guests are expected to attend the "Rays ,of Hope" tropical soiree, which will feature Larry King as emcee and musical entertainment by Michael Bolton and Jon Secada. Event co-chairs are: Gloria and Emilio Estefan, Chris and Pat Riley and Jonathan M. Tisch. Loews will underwrite the gala, with principal benefactor Carnival Cruise Line Foundation. Prizes to be auctioned off include: a slumber party for 15 lucky kids at FAO Schwarz and a new Kawasaki Vulcan 1500 Drifter motorcycle, valued at more than $20,000. . For tickets, call 305-673-9800. 129 of 168, 2 Terms mh99 STARRY NIGHT 03/01/1999 THE MIAMI HERALD Copyright (c) 1999, The Miami Herald DATE: Monday, March 1, 1999 EDITION: Final SECTION: Local PAGE: 4B LENGTH: 31 lines ILLUSTRATION: photo: Alex Penelas with wife Lilliam (a) , Jon Secada with wife Maritere (a) , Christine Lahti with Nathan Slewett (a) , Holly Robinson Peete with Rodney Peete (a) SOURCE/CREDIT LINE: Photos by LILLY ECHEVERRIA / For The Herald MEMO: MAKING A DIFFERENCE - ran as cutline STARRY NIGHT Miami-Dade Mayor Alex Penelas and wife Lilliam spent more than two hours Saturday receiving 1,100 guests who paid $250 each for the second annual Mayor's Ball to benefit United Way. The event at the new Loews Miami Beach Hotel netted $350,000. Mario Kreutzberger, who as Don Francisco hosts TV's Sabado Gigante show, conducted his first auction in English; cruises, airline tickets and a Rolex watch generated another $23, 000.